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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cap — a hat
  3. pit — in a race
  4. clip — a video
  5. band — a music group
  6. pitch — completely
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. game — wild animals
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cap — a lid
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fine — all right
  16. cap — of ice
  17. fine — high quality
  18. game — a match
  19. pit — a hole
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. band — a ring
  24. fine — a penalty

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