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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spell — a short time
  3. dip — to sink
  4. saw — the tool
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. ground — crushed
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. fall — to drop
  10. land — to come down
  11. spell — magic
  12. spring — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. spell — letters
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fall — the season
  17. scale — in music
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fall — to drop
  20. scale — size or range
  21. ground — a position
  22. land — a country
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. spring — of water

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