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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. fall — to drop
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pop — music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fall — the season
  11. dip — to sink
  12. pop — to visit
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. pop — soda
  15. snap — to click
  16. squash — to crush
  17. fall — to drop
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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