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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 120 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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stand — to bear
  9. content — the amount
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. fall — to drop
  13. kid — child
  14. fall — the season
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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