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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: cell · degree · clip · row · dip · bay · file · fan

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cell — a phone
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. row — to paddle
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. cell — in biology
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. row — a line
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. degree — from a university
  16. file — a tool
  17. dip — to sink
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a document
  24. clip — a video

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