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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. track — a song
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. game — a match
  5. dip — to sink
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. field — a subject
  8. pit — a hole
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. track — to keep track
  15. field — farmland
  16. rush — hurry
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pit — in a race
  19. field — for sport
  20. bark — to shout
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. track — a path
  24. dip — to dunk

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