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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 124 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. land — ground
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. land — a country
  12. sharp — clever
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. date — the fruit
  22. dip — to sink
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. dip — to dunk

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