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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. spell — letters
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. spell — a short time
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. spell — magic
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. date — the fruit
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. clip — a video
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. clip — to cut
  24. dip — to sink

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