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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cap — a hat
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cap — of ice
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mug — a face
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bat — the animal
  11. shower — rain
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cap — a lid
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. game — a match
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. mug — to rob
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. dip — to sink
  24. game — wild animals

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