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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 124 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pit — a hole
  5. fall — the season
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chip — to eat
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. scale — in music
  15. chip — for betting
  16. tube — the underground
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. fall — to drop
  24. scale — for weighing

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