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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. mark — a trace
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. pop — soda
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. stock — shares
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cell — in biology
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. band — a music group
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a ring
  23. stock — goods
  24. cell — in a prison

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