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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. kid — child
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. land — a country
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — to come down
  11. pit — in a race
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. perch — the fish
  14. roll — a cake
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pit — a hole
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spring — the season
  21. land — ground
  22. spring — of water
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. roll — a list

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