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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. land — to come down
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — low music
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. land — ground
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. rush — hurry
  15. hand — help
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. land — a country
  18. ground — the earth
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — the animal
  24. dip — to sink

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