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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · dip · mine · pop · season · foot · rush · bat

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. season — in sport
  6. pop — to visit
  7. dip — to sink
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. foot — a measure
  14. rush — hurry
  15. bat — the animal
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. season — of the year
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. pop — music
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. rush — to hurry

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