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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — government
  8. row — a line
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pit — in a race
  11. degree — temperature
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. field — for sport
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. rule — a law
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pit — a hole
  19. row — to paddle
  20. field — a subject
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — farmland

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