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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. pit — in a race
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rush — hurry
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. game — a match
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. date — the fruit
  13. pit — a hole
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. march — music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — of water
  19. cell — a phone
  20. march — the month
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. march — the month
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cell — in a prison

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