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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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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. dip — to sink
  3. track — a song
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cold — an illness
  11. sharp — clever
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — to crush
  16. branch — a division
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. ball — a great time
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — the sport
  23. ball — a dance
  24. track — a path

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