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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 120 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. staff — employees
  3. face — to confront
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. spell — letters
  7. stem — to come from
  8. spell — a short time
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. staff — employees
  12. spell — magic
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chest — a box
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. chest — of your body
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fall — to drop

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