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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. file — a tool
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pass — a permit
  10. fork — in a road
  11. dip — to sink
  12. file — a document
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — size or range
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tear — to rip
  18. file — a line of people
  19. scale — in music
  20. chair — a leader
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. pass — to succeed

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