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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. vault — a safe
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rock — a stone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. last — to go on
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. last — final
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. last — finally
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. firm — a company
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cold — not warm
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. firm — decided

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