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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. season — of the year
  3. clip — to cut
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. race — humankind
  6. capital — money
  7. present — the time now
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. present — a gift
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. clip — for paper
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — a contest
  18. track — to keep track
  19. clip — a video
  20. present — there
  21. season — in sport
  22. dip — to sink
  23. capital — a city
  24. calf — of the leg

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