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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: dip · wave · straw · fan · clip · foot · kid · drill

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. clip — to cut
  4. dip — to sink
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. drill — the tool
  14. clip — for paper
  15. foot — a measure
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. drill — army training
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. clip — a video
  23. kid — child
  24. wave — of the sea

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