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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. dip — to dunk
  2. club — for dancing
  3. fine — all right
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. content — happy
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rush — hurry
  8. fine — high quality
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. content — the amount
  12. club — a group
  13. season — in sport
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. dip — to sink
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. club — for golf
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  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