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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  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 — a sauce
  2. file — a document
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. file — a tool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wake — a trail
  14. deal — to handle
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. perch — the fish
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. dip — to sink
  20. rush — hurry
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. deal — an agreement
  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