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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rock — music
  3. prune — to trim
  4. land — a country
  5. prune — to trim
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. pit — in a race
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. pit — a hole
  14. land — ground
  15. rock — a stone
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spell — letters
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. file — a line of people
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. land — to come down
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. spell — magic

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