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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. tube — a container
  3. dip — to sink
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — to rob
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — wild animals
  10. mug — a cup
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. shower — rain
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. spring — a coil
  23. shower — to wash
  24. spring — of water

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