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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 120 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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. game — a match
  3. can — a tin
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. clip — for paper
  6. track — a path
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. track — to keep track
  9. can — to be able to
  10. club — for golf
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mine — for digging
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. can — a tin
  15. track — a song
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — a group
  19. dip — to sink
  20. club — for dancing
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — of the leg

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