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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. bass — low music
  3. pitch — completely
  4. hand — help
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wind — moving air
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. hand — in cards
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bass — the fish
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wind — moving air
  21. snap — to click
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bat — the animal
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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