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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 116 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: tear · bat · dip · clip · craft · land · spell · track

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. tear — from crying
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. dip — to sink
  7. land — ground
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bat — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. spell — letters
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. track — to keep track
  16. land — to come down
  17. track — a path
  18. track — a song
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — a country
  24. clip — for paper

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