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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — the underground
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. club — for golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cold — not warm
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. club — a group
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. tube — a container
  22. dip — to sink
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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