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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. last — to go on
  3. firm — decided
  4. land — ground
  5. last — final
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. land — to come down
  8. chest — of your body
  9. firm — steady
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. chest — of your body
  13. firm — a company
  14. land — a country
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — finally
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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