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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. drill — the tool
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. capital — money
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. face — to point toward
  8. dip — to sink
  9. capital — a city
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. drill — army training
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — an illness
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — part of the head
  21. ground — crushed
  22. face — to confront
  23. drill — a practice
  24. ground — a position

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