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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. field — farmland
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. net — in sport
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. scale — in music
  8. pit — a hole
  9. net — for catching
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. march — the month
  12. net — after costs
  13. field — a subject
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — a phone
  18. scale — size or range
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. march — the month
  21. field — for sport
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — music
  24. hide — animal skin

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