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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pop — music
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. mug — to rob
  5. dip — to sink
  6. spell — letters
  7. file — a document
  8. pit — a hole
  9. chair — a leader
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pop — soda
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. mug — a face
  14. spell — a short time
  15. shower — rain
  16. file — a tool
  17. mug — a cup
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. pop — to visit
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spell — magic
  24. file — a line of people

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