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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. row — to paddle
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pit — in a race
  12. band — a music group
  13. content — the amount
  14. pit — a hole
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — happy
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. rest — a break
  24. content — videos and posts

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