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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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Word bank
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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. dip — to sink
  3. bat — the animal
  4. season — of the year
  5. saw — the tool
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bear — the animal
  18. season — in sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. game — wild animals
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mine — for digging
  24. game — a match

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