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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. stem — to come from
  3. face — to confront
  4. row — to paddle
  5. pop — music
  6. row — a line
  7. last — final
  8. firm — a company
  9. pop — soda
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. last — to go on
  12. rule — government
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. face — to point toward
  16. firm — steady
  17. pop — to visit
  18. rule — a law
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. last — finally
  21. face — part of the head
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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