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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · dip · clip · cell · bay · content

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. 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. clip — for paper
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. clip — a video
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. content — the amount
  17. clip — to cut
  18. 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