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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pit — a hole
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. pit — in a race
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. roll — a cake
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — a trail
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. field — a subject
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. roll — a list
  24. cold — not warm

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