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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. root — of a word
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. root — of a plant
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. root — the cause
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cold — an illness

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