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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. pit — a hole
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ball — a dance
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pit — in a race
  20. prune — to trim
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. lie — to recline
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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