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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — to rob
  6. last — finally
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. last — final
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. dip — to sink
  17. tear — from crying
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. last — to go on
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mine — for digging
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. stem — of a plant

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