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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 116 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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — in a race
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rush — hurry
  5. capital — a city
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bound — certain
  8. cold — not warm
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. face — to point toward
  12. rule — a law
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pit — a hole
  15. face — part of the head
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bound — obliged
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. field — farmland
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bound — tied together
  23. rule — government
  24. face — to confront

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