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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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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: pit · race · bat · temple · wound · saw · track · last

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. track — a song
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. last — final
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wound — an injury
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. last — to go on
  17. track — a path
  18. last — finally
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — the animal
  24. saw — the 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