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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. prune — to trim
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pit — in a race
  10. kid — child
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pit — a hole
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. dip — to sink
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. saw — the tool
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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