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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pop — music
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rash — hasty
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. staff — a stick
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ground — a position
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spell — a short time
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. ground — crushed
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — employees
  21. spell — magic
  22. rash — a series
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — soda

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