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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. band — a music group
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — an illness
  7. capital — a city
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. cell — in biology
  10. capital — money
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. band — a ring
  13. mate — a partner
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. firm — a company
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wind — moving air
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. firm — decided
  24. mate — to breed

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