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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — the earth
  4. last — finally
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pit — in a race
  8. bass — low music
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. track — a path
  16. last — final
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. track — to keep track
  21. pound — a weight
  22. track — a song
  23. last — to go on
  24. pit — a hole

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