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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — an injury
  14. craft — a skill
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pit — a hole
  18. swing — to play on
  19. craft — boats
  20. file — a document
  21. swing — music
  22. file — a tool
  23. rash — hasty
  24. sharp — exactly

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