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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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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: bay · firm · clip · court · chest · wave · kid · dip

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. court — for sport
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. firm — decided
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — child
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. court — of law
  12. chest — a box
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. firm — a company
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. chest — of your body
  21. dip — to sink
  22. court — of a king
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. clip — for paper

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