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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. tube — the underground
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — letters
  12. lie — to recline
  13. object — a thing
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — an aim
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. tube — a container
  20. spell — magic
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. object — to protest

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