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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — a coil
  5. kid — child
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. spring — of water
  12. face — to point toward
  13. cold — not warm
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — the season
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rush — hurry

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