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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. scale — in music
  4. spring — of water
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. fork — in a road
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chair — a leader
  16. spring — the season
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. land — ground

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