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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 a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. spring — a coil
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. stand — to bear
  14. hand — help
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. content — happy
  17. spring — the season
  18. file — a document
  19. degree — an amount
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spring — of water
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. content — the amount

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