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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 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cap — a lid
  3. game — a match
  4. stem — to come from
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cap — of ice
  7. net — for catching
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. game — wild animals
  11. net — after costs
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. net — in sport
  16. cap — a hat
  17. dip — to sink
  18. stem — a stem cell

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