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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. key — in music
  5. dip — to sink
  6. clip — a video
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. fall — to drop
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cap — a hat
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. key — for a lock
  14. key — the most important part
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. clip — to cut
  18. scale — in music
  19. cap — a lid
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cap — of ice
  24. bat — the animal

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