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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: clip · cold · bound · club · spell · mouse · saw · dip

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spell — magic
  4. club — a group
  5. bound — tied together
  6. club — for golf
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. clip — a video
  9. saw — the tool
  10. spell — letters
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bound — certain
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — a short time
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. dip — to sink
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. club — for dancing
  24. mouse — the animal

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