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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: sharp · cell · pit · nail · wake · kid · stand · roll

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. kid — to tease
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kid — child
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. stand — to bear
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — a cake
  19. cell — in biology
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. pit — in a race

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