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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. game — a match
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bear — the animal
  8. field — a subject
  9. bear — the animal
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. drill — army training
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — a short time
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. spell — magic
  18. dip — to sink
  19. field — for sport
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. field — farmland
  22. drill — a practice
  23. snap — to click
  24. hide — to keep secret

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