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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: stick · clip · degree · wave · pit · dip · calf · shower

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. degree — from a university
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. dip — to sink
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pit — a hole
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. degree — temperature
  21. shower — rain
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — with your hand

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