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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spell — a short time
  11. firm — steady
  12. fall — to drop
  13. date — the fruit
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fall — the season
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. firm — a company
  24. capital — a city

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