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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — a subject
  5. content — the amount
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. kid — child
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. clip — a video
  11. dip — to sink
  12. field — for sport
  13. content — happy
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. club — for dancing
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. club — a group
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. field — farmland
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. club — for golf

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