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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. race — humankind
  3. dip — to sink
  4. ground — a position
  5. net — for catching
  6. spring — a coil
  7. race — a contest
  8. root — the cause
  9. spring — the season
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mine — for digging
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spring — of water
  14. net — in sport
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. root — of a word
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. roll — a cake
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. net — after costs
  21. root — of a plant
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. ground — crushed
  24. roll — a list

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