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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: hand · cold · clip · toast · dip · bound · rest · fine

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rest — a break
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. clip — a video
  9. fine — high quality
  10. hand — in cards
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bound — certain
  16. fine — all right
  17. toast — bread
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rest — what's left
  20. dip — to sink
  21. hand — help
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bound — tied together
  24. rest — what's left

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