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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. firm — a company
  3. capital — a city
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. net — for catching
  6. firm — steady
  7. pit — in a race
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. last — finally
  10. net — after costs
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. firm — decided
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pit — a hole
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — final
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. capital — money
  23. last — to go on
  24. net — in sport

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