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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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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: bay · clip · lash · file · chest · dip · cell · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — a video
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. clip — for paper
  10. file — a document
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. dip — to sink
  13. chest — a box
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cell — in biology
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a line of people
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — an amount

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