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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fine — high quality
  3. content — happy
  4. tube — the underground
  5. fine — all right
  6. wound — an injury
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pit — a hole
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. tube — a container
  11. wound — an injury
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pit — in a race
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. content — the amount
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. mine — for digging
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. snap — to click

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