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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — in a race
  3. swing — music
  4. file — a document
  5. pit — a hole
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chip — to eat
  12. cold — not warm
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rash — a series
  15. chip — for betting
  16. swing — to play on
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. swing — in golf
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rash — hasty
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. file — a tool

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