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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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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. shower — rain
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. bark — to shout
  7. kid — child
  8. bore — to drill
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bore — to tire
  11. season — in sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — to tease
  14. shower — to wash
  15. band — a ring
  16. clip — a video
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. band — a music group
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. season — of the year
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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