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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. pop — to visit
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. game — wild animals
  6. land — ground
  7. cap — a hat
  8. current — electric
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. land — a country
  11. current — happening now
  12. current — of water
  13. bass — low music
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — a match
  17. land — to come down
  18. bass — the fish
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. cap — a lid
  21. pop — music
  22. cap — of ice
  23. dip — to sink
  24. pop — soda

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