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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. last — finally
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. last — final
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — in a race
  8. last — to go on
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. firm — steady
  11. stem — to come from
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. pound — a weight
  23. firm — a company
  24. sharp — exactly

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