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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. kid — to tease
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. club — for golf
  8. mate — a partner
  9. club — a group
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. last — final
  12. spell — magic
  13. last — finally
  14. mate — to breed
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. mate — a friend
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. dip — to sink
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. kid — child
  24. club — for dancing

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