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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. stand — to bear
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. firm — a company
  5. court — of law
  6. file — a line of people
  7. capital — money
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. cold — an illness
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. file — a tool
  13. firm — steady
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — in a road
  17. court — for sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — decided
  20. court — of a king
  21. fine — high quality
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — a big letter

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