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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fall — the season
  3. pit — in a race
  4. bark — to shout
  5. track — to keep track
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fall — to drop
  10. track — a path
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rash — a series
  15. spring — the season
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — a coil
  19. track — a song
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pit — a hole
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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