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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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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: dip · coach · mug · arm · pitcher · hand · cold · content

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cold — an illness
  4. content — the amount
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — to rob
  7. content — happy
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. dip — to sink
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — help
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mug — a cup
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. cold — not warm

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