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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mug — a cup
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. last — to go on
  11. mug — a face
  12. last — final
  13. mug — to rob
  14. capital — a city
  15. last — finally
  16. chest — a box
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. pit — a hole
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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