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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — not warm
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. pit — a hole
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. date — the fruit
  8. dip — to sink
  9. court — of law
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. court — of a king
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. cold — an illness
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. ground — crushed
  19. court — for sport
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. pitcher — a jug

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