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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cold — not warm
  5. season — in sport
  6. rush — hurry
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. dip — to sink
  13. clip — a video
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. club — a group
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. club — for dancing
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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