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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. chest — of your body
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — low music
  14. roll — a cake
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. mark — a grade
  19. mark — a trace
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. chest — a box
  23. saw — the tool
  24. roll — a list

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