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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. shower — to wash
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. firm — steady
  7. wound — an injury
  8. deal — to handle
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ground — crushed
  16. firm — a company
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — a position
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — for digging
  23. game — wild animals
  24. ground — the earth

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