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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. shower — to wash
  4. snap — to click
  5. spring — of water
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spring — a coil
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. mark — a trace
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. dip — to sink
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spring — the season
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. mark — a grade
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. chip — to eat

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