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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. dip — to sink
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. ground — a position
  13. chair — a leader
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. staff — employees
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bat — the animal
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. staff — employees

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