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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. face — part of the head
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bound — obliged
  10. face — to confront
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bound — tied together
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bat — the animal
  15. face — to point toward
  16. rule — a law
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bound — certain
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. chip — for betting
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. dip — to sink
  23. rule — government
  24. bat — for baseball

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