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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. pit — in a race
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. clip — a video
  5. hand — in cards
  6. last — final
  7. dip — to sink
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pit — a hole
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. last — finally
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. scale — in music
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — help
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. last — to go on
  24. clip — to cut

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