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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. ball — a dance
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. file — a document
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. stem — to come from
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of law
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. ball — a great time
  21. pit — a hole
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. file — a tool

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