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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 stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. staff — a stick
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pit — a hole
  6. land — ground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. dip — to sink
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. key — for a lock
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. key — in music
  13. staff — employees
  14. key — the most important part
  15. staff — employees
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. land — to come down
  18. pit — in a race
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. deal — to handle
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. land — a country

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