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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. pit — a hole
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. band — a ring
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. wound — an injury
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — the season
  10. wound — an injury
  11. spring — of water
  12. pit — in a race
  13. board — to get on
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. board — a committee
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. pitch — completely
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fork — in a road
  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