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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. clip — for paper
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. spell — magic
  5. current — of water
  6. clip — to cut
  7. current — happening now
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. clip — a video
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. cold — not warm
  13. spell — letters
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. current — electric
  19. content — happy
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. dip — to sink
  24. dip — to dunk

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