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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. season — in sport
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. race — humankind
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pit — in a race
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. prune — to trim
  16. season — of the year
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pit — a hole
  24. prune — the fruit

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