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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. clip — for paper
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. capital — a city
  6. dip — to sink
  7. chest — a box
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — a video
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. firm — steady
  13. capital — money
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wind — moving air
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. plane — a tool
  24. chest — of your body

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