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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. spell — a short time
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spell — magic
  8. dip — to sink
  9. tube — the underground
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. cold — not warm
  12. season — in sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. season — of the year
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. spell — letters
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. tube — a container

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