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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. current — electric
  3. can — a tin
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. pit — in a race
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — in music
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. current — of water
  14. can — a tin
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mine — for digging
  17. scale — size or range
  18. pit — a hole
  19. can — to be able to
  20. drill — army training
  21. season — in sport
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. current — happening now

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