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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. spring — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. can — a tin
  6. shower — to wash
  7. ground — the earth
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. can — to be able to
  10. ground — crushed
  11. dip — to sink
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. spring — a coil
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — of water
  16. content — the amount
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ground — a position
  19. fall — the season
  20. fork — in a road
  21. shower — rain
  22. fall — to drop
  23. can — a tin
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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