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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 116 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: coach · last · firm · dip · wound · bat · row · clip

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. firm — decided
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. firm — steady
  7. last — to go on
  8. row — a line
  9. dip — to sink
  10. wound — an injury
  11. last — final
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. last — finally
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. row — to paddle
  21. firm — a company
  22. clip — a video
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. bat — in an idiom

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