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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. net — in sport
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. dip — to sink
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. clip — a video
  11. chair — a leader
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. spell — a short time
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. net — for catching
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. rock — a stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. net — after costs
  23. pit — a hole
  24. rock — music

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