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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. firm — a company
  3. firm — steady
  4. shower — to wash
  5. season — of the year
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mate — a partner
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. swing — music
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chip — for betting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. shower — rain
  19. season — in sport
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. swing — to play on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. mate — a friend

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