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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. spell — a short time
  5. net — for catching
  6. dip — to sink
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mug — to rob
  9. spell — letters
  10. spring — a coil
  11. shower — rain
  12. net — after costs
  13. present — there
  14. mug — a face
  15. spell — magic
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. mug — a cup
  19. spring — the season
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spring — of water
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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