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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. track — a path
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. land — ground
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. dip — to sink
  16. track — a song
  17. bat — the animal
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. track — to keep track
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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