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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. file — a line of people
  3. row — to paddle
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. court — of law
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. court — of a king
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. file — a document
  13. row — a line
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. file — a tool
  17. firm — steady
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. firm — a company
  21. cold — not warm
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. court — for sport

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