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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. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. cold — not warm
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. suit — to fit
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — an illness
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — a video
  14. suit — in cards
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. clip — for paper
  17. dip — to sink
  18. temple — side of the head

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