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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fall — the season
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rush — hurry
  5. roll — a cake
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rest — what's left
  10. roll — a list
  11. ball — a great time
  12. rest — what's left
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to sink
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rest — a break
  23. ball — a dance
  24. coach — pulled by horses

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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