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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: pit · mark · chest · dip · field · cold · last · straw

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pit — a hole
  3. field — for sport
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — farmland
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — to go on
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. dip — to sink
  14. last — finally
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cold — an illness
  18. chest — of your body
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. last — final
  24. mark — a grade

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