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

Word bank: dip · last · track · club · snap · present · clip · cold

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a path
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — the time now
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — a video
  10. present — a gift
  11. cold — not warm
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. present — there
  15. track — a song
  16. club — a group
  17. dip — to sink
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. last — finally
  20. clip — for paper
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cold — an illness
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. last — final

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