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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. object — a thing
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. object — to protest
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. last — final
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cell — a phone
  11. object — an aim
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. last — to go on
  17. net — for catching
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. clip — to cut
  20. net — in sport
  21. dip — to sink
  22. last — finally
  23. cell — in biology
  24. net — after costs

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