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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. kick — in football
  3. snap — to click
  4. key — for a lock
  5. pop — soda
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bat — the animal
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. key — in music
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pop — music
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. key — the most important part
  20. dip — to sink
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. chest — a box
  24. pop — to visit

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