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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. prune — to trim
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. chip — to eat
  10. march — music
  11. lie — to recline
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. dip — to sink
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bat — the animal
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bat — in an idiom

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