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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cap — a hat
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. snap — to click
  5. stem — to come from
  6. cap — a lid
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. squash — the sport
  15. mine — for digging
  16. squash — to crush
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — soda
  20. cap — of ice
  21. dip — to sink
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. ground — the earth

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