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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: pitcher · present · pit · row · chest · mine · ruler · rest

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. present — a gift
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rest — what's left
  13. chest — a box
  14. pit — a hole
  15. rest — what's left
  16. row — a line
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. pit — in a race
  19. present — the time now
  20. chest — of your body
  21. present — there
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. ruler — a monarch

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