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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. object — to protest
  6. can — to be able to
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. object — an aim
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. can — a tin
  13. object — a thing
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pit — in a race
  17. prune — to trim
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. can — a tin

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