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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. court — for sport
  4. bass — low music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. court — of law
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. court — of a king
  18. pitch — completely
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pit — a hole

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