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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. kid — to tease
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. present — the time now
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. present — there
  10. chair — a leader
  11. spring — a coil
  12. present — a gift
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — to bend
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. spring — of water
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. kid — child
  22. stem — to come from
  23. dip — to sink
  24. spring — the season

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