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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. hand — help
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — not warm
  12. dip — to sink
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. clip — a video
  17. hand — in cards
  18. clip — for paper

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