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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. mug — to rob
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. saw — the tool
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — farmland
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. clip — for paper
  12. saw — the tool
  13. track — to keep track
  14. mug — a face
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mug — a cup
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. fall — to drop
  19. field — a subject
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. bark — to shout
  23. dip — to sink
  24. field — for sport

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