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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mug — to rob
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. content — the amount
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wake — a trail
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. mark — a trace
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. scale — size or range
  19. mark — a grade
  20. mug — a cup
  21. content — happy
  22. scale — in music
  23. mug — a face
  24. bat — for baseball

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