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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 120 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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. cap — a lid
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cap — of ice
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. rock — music
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. dip — to sink
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. kid — child
  17. mark — a trace
  18. hand — help
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rock — a stone
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mark — a grade

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