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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 116 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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. hand — help
  3. bear — the animal
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fork — in a road
  7. field — for sport
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. field — farmland
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. bulb — for light
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to sink
  16. field — a subject
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. bulb — for light
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bear — the animal

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