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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. perch — the fish
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bound — obliged
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cell — a phone
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rash — a series
  15. vault — a safe
  16. bound — tied together
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bound — certain
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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