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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wound — an injury
  4. scale — in music
  5. lean — to bend
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — in a race
  8. dip — to sink
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. march — music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. scale — size or range
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. wound — an injury
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. rock — a stone
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. rock — music
  23. field — for sport
  24. lean — to rest against

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