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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. clip — a video
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. ball — a dance
  12. field — a subject
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bass — low music
  18. ball — a great time
  19. bass — the fish
  20. clip — for paper
  21. row — a line
  22. pit — in a race
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bowl — to roll

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