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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spring — the season
  6. drill — a practice
  7. hand — help
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. drill — army training
  10. mug — a cup
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — of water
  13. dip — to sink
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. field — for sport
  16. drill — the tool
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mug — a face
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hide — animal skin

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