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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 120 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pit — in a race
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wake — a trail
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. field — farmland
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. field — for sport
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pit — a hole
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. field — a subject
  23. clip — for paper
  24. scale — in music

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