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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. club — for golf
  3. fall — to drop
  4. club — for dancing
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fall — to drop
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — in music
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — in golf
  12. fall — the season
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pit — a hole
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. content — the amount
  18. tear — from crying
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. club — a group
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pit — in a race

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