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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pit — in a race
  4. toast — bread
  5. kick — in football
  6. branch — a division
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bass — the fish
  10. tube — a container
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cold — not warm
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bass — low music
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. cold — an illness

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