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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pit — in a race
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. pit — a hole
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pop — music
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. chair — a leader
  11. shower — rain
  12. file — a tool
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pop — to visit
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. pop — soda
  24. rash — on the skin

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