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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. chair — a leader
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. dip — to sink
  8. court — of law
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cap — a lid
  11. court — for sport
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cap — a hat
  14. court — of a king
  15. march — the month
  16. cap — of ice
  17. hand — help
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chair — to sit on

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