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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: lie · swing · clip · dip · last · wind · staff · bark

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. last — final
  3. staff — employees
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. last — finally
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. last — to go on
  8. swing — music
  9. clip — a video
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. lie — to recline
  13. staff — a stick
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. staff — employees
  21. clip — to cut
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wind — moving air

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