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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. mug — a face
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — not warm
  9. dip — to sink
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cell — a phone
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cell — in biology
  18. fork — in a road
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mug — a cup

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