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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. game — wild animals
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. mine — for digging
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. dip — to sink
  12. cap — of ice
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. wind — moving air
  19. track — to keep track
  20. game — a match
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. wind — moving air

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