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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. firm — steady
  3. last — final
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. swing — to play on
  8. object — an aim
  9. swing — music
  10. object — to protest
  11. content — happy
  12. court — of law
  13. file — a tool
  14. last — finally
  15. court — for sport
  16. swing — in golf
  17. object — a thing
  18. court — of a king
  19. firm — a company
  20. last — to go on
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. coach — a trainer

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