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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. present — there
  3. ground — the earth
  4. shower — to wash
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. last — to go on
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. present — a gift
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — a position
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. dip — to sink
  17. ground — crushed
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. hand — help
  20. last — final
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. last — finally
  23. present — the time now
  24. hand — in cards

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