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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. roll — a list
  4. file — a line of people
  5. capital — money
  6. file — a document
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. roll — a cake
  13. pit — in a race
  14. capital — a city
  15. swing — to play on
  16. pit — a hole
  17. file — a tool
  18. suit — clothes
  19. suit — in cards
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. suit — to fit
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. coach — a trainer

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