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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cap — a lid
  3. court — for sport
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — of a king
  7. pit — a hole
  8. court — of law
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. chip — to eat
  11. perch — the fish
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cap — a hat
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. row — a line
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cap — of ice
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. chip — for betting
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bat — the animal

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