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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. root — the cause
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. foot — a measure
  5. file — a line of people
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. roll — a cake
  9. dip — to sink
  10. file — a tool
  11. root — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tear — to rip
  16. root — of a word
  17. roll — a list
  18. tear — from crying
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. file — a document
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. dip — a sauce

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