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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. tear — from crying
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — decided
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. deal — to handle
  12. file — a document
  13. last — to go on
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. file — a tool
  17. last — final
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. last — finally
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. swing — to play on
  22. tear — to rip
  23. swing — music
  24. deal — a big deal

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