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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cap — a lid
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. cap — a hat
  5. scale — size or range
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. scale — in music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wake — a trail
  16. track — a song
  17. kid — child
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pit — in a race
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. deal — an agreement

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