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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: clip · fall · cold · mug · dip · spring · tear · firm

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. spring — of water
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — an illness
  5. dip — to sink
  6. firm — steady
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mug — a cup
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mug — a face
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. fall — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. clip — a video
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tear — from crying
  23. firm — decided
  24. spring — the season

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