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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cue — a hint
  3. chest — a box
  4. fine — high quality
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — the time now
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. present — there
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fine — all right
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. pit — in a race
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. fine — a penalty

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