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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. clip — to cut
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. race — a contest
  6. clip — a video
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. wake — a trail
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — for paper
  14. foot — a measure
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bass — low music
  18. spring — the season
  19. bass — the fish
  20. spring — of water
  21. pound — a weight
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. race — humankind
  24. dip — to sink

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