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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. chest — of your body
  3. land — a country
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rash — a series
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. root — of a word
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. chest — of your body
  11. root — of a plant
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. root — the cause
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bat — the animal
  19. land — ground
  20. chest — a box
  21. dip — to sink
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bat — in an idiom

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