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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chair — a leader
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bear — the animal
  5. spring — the season
  6. ground — a position
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bear — the animal
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spring — of water
  21. cell — in biology
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cell — in a prison

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