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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. current — happening now
  5. ground — crushed
  6. drill — army training
  7. current — of water
  8. chip — for betting
  9. march — the month
  10. ground — a position
  11. dip — to sink
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. drill — a practice
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. scale — size or range
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. scale — in music
  19. chip — to eat
  20. clip — for paper
  21. current — electric
  22. march — music
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chip — in a computer

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