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

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. scale — size or range
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. scale — in music
  5. dip — to sink
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bear — the animal
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bear — the animal
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. file — a tool
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — belonging to me

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