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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: can · racket · dip · sharp · cold · bark · last · clip

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. dip — to sink
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. can — a tin
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — not warm
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. sharp — clever
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cold — an illness
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. racket — for tennis

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