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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · pit · mine · race · rock · perch · present · chest

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — a hole
  3. present — there
  4. chest — of your body
  5. present — a gift
  6. perch — the fish
  7. race — the arms race
  8. game — a match
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rock — music
  13. present — the time now
  14. chest — of your body
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rock — a stone
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. race — humankind
  21. chest — a box
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pit — in a race

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