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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 · suit · hand · temple · cold · coach · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. clip — a video
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. dip — to sink
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. net — after costs
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. suit — in cards
  14. clip — to cut
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. suit — clothes
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — help
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. suit — to fit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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