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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. squash — to crush
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. field — for sport
  7. pit — in a race
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — the earth
  10. scale — in music
  11. rock — music
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — farmland
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rock — a stone
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. squash — the sport
  23. ground — a position
  24. field — a subject

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