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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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a tool
  6. drill — the tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. race — a contest
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. drill — army training
  18. race — humankind
  19. dip — to sink
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. shower — rain
  24. file — a document

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