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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. dip — to sink
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. sharp — clever
  17. perch — the fish
  18. fork — in a road
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — not warm
  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