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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — not warm
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. spell — magic
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. dip — to sink
  9. season — in sport
  10. spell — a short time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. season — of the year
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. snap — to click
  19. wound — an injury
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. spell — letters
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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