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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: pitcher · ground · dip · clip · row · cold · object · wax

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. ground — crushed
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. cold — an illness
  5. clip — a video
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. ground — a position
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. object — an aim
  18. dip — to sink
  19. object — to protest
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. ground — the earth
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cold — not warm
  24. row — a line

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