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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. last — to go on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. scale — in music
  8. pit — in a race
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. prune — to trim
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. mate — to breed
  15. last — finally
  16. degree — temperature
  17. scale — size or range
  18. mate — a partner
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. mate — a friend
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pit — a hole

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