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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — there
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. ground — crushed
  7. snap — to click
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. dip — to sink
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ground — the earth
  15. field — farmland
  16. lean — to bend
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. capital — a city
  19. lean — thin
  20. present — a gift
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. ground — a position
  23. field — a subject
  24. capital — money

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