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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. shower — to wash
  3. net — for catching
  4. pit — in a race
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. shower — rain
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cap — a lid
  10. net — after costs
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — a position
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pit — a hole
  15. spell — letters
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spell — magic
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a hat
  24. net — in sport

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