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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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bore — to tire
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — rain
  14. bore — to drill
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. mine — for digging
  18. dip — to sink

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