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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. clip — to cut
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. ground — the earth
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. clip — a video
  22. ground — a position
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pass — to spend time

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