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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 112 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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. dip — to sink
  3. board — a committee
  4. bear — the animal
  5. tube — a container
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. board — to get on
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. tube — the underground
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bat — the animal
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. file — a document
  24. dip — to dunk

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