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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 120 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: staff · clip · board · fan · dip · sharp · mate · cold

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. clip — to cut
  3. staff — employees
  4. mate — to breed
  5. dip — to sink
  6. cold — not warm
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mate — a friend
  11. board — a committee
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. staff — a stick
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — to get on
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mate — a partner
  23. clip — a video
  24. staff — employees

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