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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 116 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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bat — the animal
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. wake — a trail
  7. firm — decided
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — an illness
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — in football
  15. ball — a dance
  16. chip — to eat
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. chip — for betting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. firm — steady
  24. shower — rain

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