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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. vault — a safe
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. game — wild animals
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mine — for digging
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. stem — to come from
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pitch — completely
  24. bat — the animal

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