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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. pit — a hole
  4. swing — to play on
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lean — thin
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. clip — a video
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — the month
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. swing — in golf
  20. march — music
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. swing — music
  23. pit — in a race
  24. perch — the fish

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