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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. firm — a company
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. spring — the season
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. hand — help
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — in cards
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — of water
  22. firm — steady
  23. game — wild animals
  24. firm — decided

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