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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pit — a hole
  4. board — to get on
  5. band — a ring
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. ground — crushed
  9. field — for sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. band — a music group
  12. net — in sport
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. net — for catching
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. field — a subject
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pit — in a race
  20. shower — rain
  21. net — after costs
  22. field — farmland
  23. ground — a position
  24. board — a committee

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