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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stem — to come from
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — clever
  8. dip — to sink
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. scale — size or range
  15. march — the month
  16. scale — in music
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. rule — government
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. capital — a city
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. march — the month
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. march — music

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