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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. lie — to recline
  3. club — for golf
  4. spell — magic
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — a group
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. hand — help
  14. branch — a division
  15. spell — a short time
  16. dip — to sink
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hand — in cards
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. club — for dancing
  23. spell — letters
  24. dip — a sauce

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