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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: date · sharp · dip · degree · craft · cold · board · clip

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to sink
  4. craft — a skill
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. craft — boats
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — temperature
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cold — an illness
  11. degree — from a university
  12. clip — to cut
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. date — the fruit
  16. clip — for paper
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. board — a committee
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. degree — an amount
  22. clip — a video
  23. sharp — clever
  24. board — to get on

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