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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. net — after costs
  3. file — a document
  4. net — in sport
  5. file — a tool
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fall — the season
  10. pit — a hole
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — the animal
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pit — in a race
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. net — for catching
  24. tear — from crying

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