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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. bat — the animal
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bear — the animal
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. cold — an illness
  20. dip — to sink
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wax — to grow
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bear — to put up with

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