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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spring — the season
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pop — soda
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — of water
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. pit — a hole
  21. wind — moving air
  22. shower — rain
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pop — music

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