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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. game — a match
  6. cue — a hint
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — for pool
  10. dip — to sink
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — the season
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. plane — a tool
  16. spring — of water
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — a stick
  20. spring — a coil
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. game — a kind of play

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