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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. dip — to dunk
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. sharp — clever
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. stock — shares
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. row — a line
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. toast — bread
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cell — in biology
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stock — goods
  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