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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. club — for golf
  4. charge — a price
  5. dip — to sink
  6. squash — the sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. club — a group
  11. club — for dancing
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. squash — to crush
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — moving air
  16. clip — to cut
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — a video
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. charge — in control
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. saw — the tool
  23. charge — electricity
  24. wound — an injury

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