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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. face — to confront
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. chest — a box
  13. band — a ring
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. face — to point toward
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — not warm
  19. face — part of the head
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. racket — a loud noise

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