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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. scale — size or range
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. net — for catching
  6. toast — bread
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. field — farmland
  9. wound — an injury
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wound — an injury
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. field — for sport
  15. net — in sport
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. field — a subject
  20. net — after costs
  21. sharp — clever
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. scale — in music
  24. sharp — exactly

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