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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — to come down
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pop — soda
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mate — to breed
  13. land — a country
  14. pop — to visit
  15. spring — the season
  16. mate — a partner
  17. wake — a trail
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. craft — boats
  20. land — ground
  21. dip — to sink
  22. spring — of water
  23. pop — music
  24. cell — a phone

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