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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 124 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. drill — the tool
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. mug — to rob
  7. spring — a coil
  8. ball — a dance
  9. date — the fruit
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. spring — the season
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mug — a cup
  17. dip — to sink
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mug — a face
  22. ball — a great time
  23. clip — for paper
  24. dip — a sauce

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