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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cell — a phone
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cell — in biology
  10. game — wild animals
  11. spell — magic
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. spell — letters
  14. can — to be able to
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. game — a match
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pit — a hole
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. spell — a short time

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