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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. cold — not warm
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bat — the animal
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cold — an illness
  16. key — in music
  17. key — the most important part
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. pit — a hole
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bat — for baseball

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