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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 120 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — not warm
  5. file — a document
  6. cue — a signal
  7. file — a tool
  8. march — the month
  9. cue — a hint
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. rush — hurry
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. march — music
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cue — for pool
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. file — a line of people
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — an illness

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