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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 120 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. ground — a position
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pit — a hole
  5. root — of a word
  6. root — of a plant
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. field — a subject
  11. ground — the earth
  12. firm — a company
  13. field — farmland
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. root — the cause
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pit — in a race
  18. field — for sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. firm — decided
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. ground — crushed

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