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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. season — of the year
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. game — a match
  5. snap — to click
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a hole
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cap — a hat
  18. file — a document
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — to add flavour

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