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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. lean — thin
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mark — a trace
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. pound — a weight
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. file — a line of people
  21. shower — rain
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. lean — to bend

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