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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 116 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fine — high quality
  3. pit — a hole
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ball — a great time
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. last — to go on
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. ground — a position
  12. prune — to trim
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. ball — a dance
  15. sharp — clever
  16. fine — all right
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pit — in a race
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. last — final
  23. last — finally
  24. prune — to trim

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