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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. date — the fruit
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. press — a publisher
  6. present — the time now
  7. present — there
  8. pit — in a race
  9. drill — a practice
  10. present — a gift
  11. clip — for paper
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. press — to push
  14. clip — to cut
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. drill — army training
  22. press — newspapers
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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