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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. face — part of the head
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pit — a hole
  10. tube — a container
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tube — the underground
  16. cold — an illness
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. roll — a cake
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. game — a match
  21. pit — in a race
  22. game — wild animals
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a list

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com