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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cue — for pool
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cell — in biology
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — a phone
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — a company
  14. field — a subject
  15. ground — crushed
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cue — a hint
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ground — a position
  20. field — farmland
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. field — for sport
  24. cue — a signal

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