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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. ground — a position
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. ground — crushed
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. pitcher — in 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