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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — to cut
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. fall — to drop
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. spell — a short time
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. spell — magic
  19. track — a path
  20. tear — to rip
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. tear — from crying
  24. dip — to sink

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