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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mark — a trace
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. hand — help
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. branch — a division
  16. cold — an illness
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. mark — a grade
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. mark — to pay attention

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