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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pop — music
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. spring — of water
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. swing — music
  9. spring — the season
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. sharp — clever
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. pop — soda
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. pop — to visit
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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