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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. kick — in football
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. scale — size or range
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — hasty
  9. row — to paddle
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — in music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. row — a line
  21. mine — for digging
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. mine — an explosive

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