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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. drill — the tool
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. kid — child
  6. dip — to sink
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tear — to rip
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. tear — from crying
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. drill — army training
  14. row — a line
  15. root — the cause
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. content — happy
  20. drill — a practice
  21. row — to paddle
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. content — the amount
  24. coach — a trainer

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