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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. rule — a law
  3. ball — a dance
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. spell — letters
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mine — for digging
  10. scale — in music
  11. firm — decided
  12. scale — size or range
  13. rule — government
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — a short time
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ground — a position
  19. firm — a company
  20. ball — a great time
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ground — the earth

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