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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 116 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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. board — a committee
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. board — to get on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bat — the animal
  9. dip — to sink
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. can — a tin
  12. pit — a hole
  13. can — a tin
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. content — happy
  17. pit — in a race
  18. cold — not warm
  19. content — the amount
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. coach — a trainer

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