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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. tear — from crying
  3. court — for sport
  4. game — wild animals
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — to handle
  10. shower — rain
  11. tear — to rip
  12. shower — to wash
  13. tear — from crying
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to sink
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. tube — a container
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — a match

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