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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. swing — to play on
  6. race — humankind
  7. march — the month
  8. toast — bread
  9. bore — to tire
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. swing — in golf
  13. race — the arms race
  14. dip — to sink
  15. swing — music
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cold — not warm
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. bore — to drill
  23. march — music
  24. toast — the most admired

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