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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — the tool
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bank — for money
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — not warm
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. ground — a position
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ground — crushed
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cold — an illness
  19. drill — a practice
  20. capital — money
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. dip — to sink

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