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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. dip — to sink
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — to breed
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mate — a partner
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pop — music
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bat — in an idiom

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