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

Word bank: key · chest · clip · lean · fork · race · pit · mate

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — to breed
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lean — to bend
  10. race — a contest
  11. mate — a partner
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pit — in a race
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pit — a hole
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. chest — of your body
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. fork — to eat with

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