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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. present — the time now
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. spring — the season
  6. court — of law
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. file — a tool
  11. present — a gift
  12. file — a document
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. pit — in a race
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. court — for sport
  17. spring — a coil
  18. row — to paddle
  19. court — of a king
  20. row — a line
  21. spring — of water
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. file — a line of people
  24. present — there

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