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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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Word bank
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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: fan · pit · bark · ball · mug · ground · track · chest

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mug — a cup
  4. ball — a dance
  5. track — to keep track
  6. ball — a great time
  7. pit — a hole
  8. chest — a box
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. ground — crushed
  11. mug — a face
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. track — a path
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. mug — to rob
  20. pit — in a race
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. track — a song
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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