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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. last — final
  3. firm — decided
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. last — to go on
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. object — an aim
  12. firm — a company
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — not warm
  16. firm — steady
  17. cold — an illness
  18. last — finally
  19. staff — employees
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — the animal
  24. object — a thing

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