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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. mate — a friend
  6. foot — a measure
  7. firm — a company
  8. game — wild animals
  9. firm — steady
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitch — completely
  13. firm — decided
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. mate — to breed
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. mate — a partner
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — money
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. game — a match
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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