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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 120 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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. shower — rain
  3. pass — a permit
  4. swing — music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. swing — to play on
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. dip — to sink
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. present — there
  13. saw — the tool
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — to wash
  18. present — a gift
  19. scale — in music
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. scale — size or range
  22. saw — the tool
  23. present — the time now
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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