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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 116 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rush — hurry
  4. hand — help
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pit — in a race
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. stock — shares
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rash — a series
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. row — a line
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. pitch — completely
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. hand — part of the body
  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