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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: firm · swing · clip · fall · lie · date · dip · degree

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. swing — to play on
  3. firm — a company
  4. fall — to drop
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. fall — the season
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — the fruit
  10. clip — to cut
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lie — to recline
  14. dip — to sink
  15. degree — from a university
  16. clip — a video
  17. firm — decided
  18. degree — an amount
  19. swing — in golf
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. clip — for paper
  22. swing — music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. firm — steady

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