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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: bulb · rule · stick · fork · clip · cell · dip · scale

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. scale — size or range
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — to cut
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — a video
  7. dip — to sink
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. rule — a law
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — for light
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rule — government
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. scale — in music

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