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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. board — to get on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mark — a grade
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — an illness
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. cold — not warm
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. board — a committee
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. board — a flat piece

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