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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. object — an aim
  3. game — a match
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cap — a hat
  7. degree — temperature
  8. current — of water
  9. object — a thing
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. firm — a company
  12. last — to go on
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cap — a lid
  15. current — electric
  16. firm — decided
  17. firm — steady
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cap — of ice
  20. current — happening now
  21. last — finally
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cold — not warm
  24. object — to protest

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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