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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. foot — a measure
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chest — a box
  8. firm — decided
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. firm — a company
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. drill — a practice
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — army training
  24. chest — of your body

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