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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: bat · firm · dip · rash · court · mate · degree · fall

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. rash — a series
  3. mate — a partner
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. firm — decided
  8. firm — a company
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. dip — to sink
  11. firm — steady
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rash — hasty
  15. court — of law
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. court — for sport
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fall — the season
  23. degree — from a university
  24. court — of a king

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