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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 120 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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wind — moving air
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. row — a line
  9. capital — a city
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — music
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. capital — money
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. saw — the tool
  22. rock — a stone
  23. plane — a tool
  24. capital — a big letter

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