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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 116 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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. march — music
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. mate — a friend
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. spring — a coil
  9. march — the month
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. race — humankind
  12. spring — the season
  13. mate — a partner
  14. race — a contest
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mate — to breed
  17. can — a tin
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. march — the month
  20. spring — of water
  21. dip — to sink
  22. race — the arms race
  23. can — a tin
  24. dip — a sauce

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