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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: clip · dip · scale · band · bay · chest · ground · rush

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  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. bay — a horse colour
  2. scale — size or range
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. clip — a video
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. band — a ring
  7. ground — a position
  8. dip — to sink
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rush — hurry
  11. ground — the earth
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — crushed
  15. band — a music group
  16. scale — in music
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. chest — a box
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. dip — to dunk
  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