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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. rush — hurry
  3. track — a song
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spring — the season
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spring — of water
  16. chest — a box
  17. kick — in football
  18. degree — an amount
  19. track — a path
  20. rash — a series
  21. track — to keep track
  22. spring — a coil
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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