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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rule — government
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to click
  8. season — of the year
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pit — a hole
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rule — a law
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitch — completely
  24. season — in sport

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