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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: pop · game · squash · clip · face · object · dip · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. last — finally
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. face — to confront
  4. pop — to visit
  5. object — an aim
  6. pop — soda
  7. dip — to sink
  8. last — to go on
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. squash — to crush
  11. object — to protest
  12. last — final
  13. clip — for paper
  14. face — to point toward
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. face — part of the head
  21. object — a thing
  22. clip — a video
  23. squash — the sport
  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