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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. key — the most important part
  5. firm — decided
  6. race — a contest
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — high quality
  14. date — the fruit
  15. tube — the underground
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — the arms race
  19. firm — a company
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tube — a container
  22. race — humankind
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cold — an illness

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