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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. rock — a stone
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. court — for sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. dip — to sink
  11. game — wild animals
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. rock — music
  15. fall — the season
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cold — not warm

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