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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. rock — music
  3. firm — steady
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spring — the season
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ground — a position
  10. spring — of water
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — crushed
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rock — a stone
  17. ball — a dance
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. firm — a company

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