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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. craft — a skill
  4. present — a gift
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. craft — boats
  7. present — the time now
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. march — music
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pit — a hole
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — to crush
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. file — a line of people
  18. squash — the sport
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a tool
  23. present — there
  24. bat — the animal

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