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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 120 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. can — a tin
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. mine — for digging
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. net — for catching
  14. row — a line
  15. net — after costs
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — to be able to
  18. net — in sport
  19. swing — to play on
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. spring — a coil
  23. row — to paddle
  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