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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. firm — decided
  3. present — the time now
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. firm — steady
  6. court — for sport
  7. game — a match
  8. present — a gift
  9. face — part of the head
  10. land — ground
  11. face — to confront
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — to come down
  16. firm — a company
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — a country
  21. game — wild animals
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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