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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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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 · rule · racket · row · track · cell · last · spring

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pit — in a race
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. last — final
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — a phone
  9. row — a line
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. last — to go on
  14. track — to keep track
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rule — a law
  18. row — to paddle
  19. last — finally
  20. rule — government
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. track — a song
  23. pit — a hole
  24. rule — to rule out

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