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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. spring — the season
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. rash — a series
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. dip — to sink
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spring — of water
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. chip — to eat
  15. season — in sport
  16. rash — hasty
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pound — a weight
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. chip — for betting
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. wake — a trail
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. shower — rain

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