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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. clip — to cut
  6. row — a line
  7. track — a song
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. row — to paddle
  14. ball — a dance
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. snap — to click
  17. track — a path
  18. track — to keep track
  19. dip — to sink
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a great time
  24. jam — a tight spot

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