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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — steady
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — a box
  5. scale — in music
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. object — to protest
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. clip — a video
  14. row — to paddle
  15. object — a thing
  16. rule — a law
  17. rule — government
  18. field — for sport
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. row — a line
  21. field — a subject
  22. firm — decided
  23. scale — size or range
  24. object — an aim

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