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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ball — a dance
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. march — the month
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. saw — the tool
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. land — ground
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. shower — rain
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ball — a great time
  18. band — a music group
  19. land — to come down
  20. band — a ring
  21. land — a country
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. saw — the tool

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