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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. craft — a skill
  5. root — the cause
  6. cell — a phone
  7. craft — boats
  8. root — of a word
  9. chip — to eat
  10. net — in sport
  11. row — a line
  12. root — of a plant
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. pit — in a race
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. net — after costs
  17. chip — for betting
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. pit — a hole
  22. net — for catching
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. row — a quarrel

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