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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cell — a phone
  3. clip — for paper
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. clip — a video
  8. scale — size or range
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. bound — obliged
  14. rush — hurry
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bound — certain
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. clip — to cut
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. march — music
  22. cell — in biology
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. scale — in 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