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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. spell — magic
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rush — hurry
  5. spell — letters
  6. root — of a plant
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. root — of a word
  9. race — the arms race
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — to tease
  13. dip — to sink
  14. race — humankind
  15. root — the cause
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — child
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. race — a contest
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spring — of water
  24. dip — a sauce

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