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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. spring — the season
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wound — an injury
  5. game — a match
  6. shower — rain
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. spring — of water
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. spring — a coil
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. wound — an injury
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. snap — to click
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. game — wild animals
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. shower — to wash
  24. fork — in a road

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