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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rash — a series
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. swing — music
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to sink
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. cabinet — ministers

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