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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. spring — a coil
  3. chip — to eat
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. dip — to sink
  8. spring — the season
  9. net — in sport
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chip — for betting
  13. net — for catching
  14. scale — size or range
  15. shower — to wash
  16. spring — of water
  17. march — the month
  18. net — after costs
  19. saw — the tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. shower — rain
  24. scale — in music

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