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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. mate — to breed
  3. game — a match
  4. clip — a video
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mate — a partner
  8. clip — for paper
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. wound — an injury
  11. dip — to sink
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. can — a tin
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. clip — to cut
  17. game — wild animals
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — an illness
  20. can — a tin
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — not warm
  23. can — to be able to
  24. prune — to trim

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