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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hand — help
  6. rush — hurry
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bat — the animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. scale — in music
  13. court — of law
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. dip — to sink
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. scale — size or range
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. court — of a king
  24. ruler — for measuring

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