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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. dip — to sink
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cap — a lid
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spell — magic
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. spell — a short time
  12. chip — for betting
  13. row — to paddle
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. spell — letters
  16. cap — a hat
  17. kid — child
  18. clip — a video
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — to eat
  21. row — a line
  22. kid — to tease
  23. club — a group
  24. cap — of ice

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