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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. foot — a measure
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pop — to visit
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pop — music
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. pop — soda
  13. staff — a stick
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spring — of water
  18. snap — to click
  19. staff — employees
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. dip — to sink
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. spring — a coil

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