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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. track — to keep track
  4. fine — all right
  5. season — in sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. dip — to sink
  8. snap — to click
  9. track — a song
  10. fine — high quality
  11. track — a path
  12. rash — a series
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spring — of water
  17. field — for sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. season — of the year
  20. spring — a coil
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. rash — hasty
  24. field — farmland

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