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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. craft — boats
  6. mark — a trace
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — a video
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. craft — a skill
  12. clip — for paper
  13. band — a music group
  14. snap — to click
  15. mark — a grade
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. clip — to cut
  18. dip — to sink
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. plane — a tool
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. dip — a sauce

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