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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 120 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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pop — soda
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. dip — to sink
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. snap — to click
  14. bound — certain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pop — to visit
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — music
  24. stem — to come from

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