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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. pop — soda
  5. season — of the year
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bound — certain
  8. pop — to visit
  9. season — in sport
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. bound — tied together
  12. pop — music
  13. bound — obliged
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — an illness
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. dip — to sink
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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