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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. current — electric
  3. field — farmland
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. degree — an amount
  7. object — to protest
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. degree — temperature
  10. current — of water
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. current — happening now
  13. degree — from a university
  14. squash — the sport
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a hole
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. field — for sport
  20. object — an aim
  21. mine — for digging
  22. object — a thing
  23. kick — in football
  24. mine — an explosive

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