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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. degree — an amount
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. file — a tool
  5. firm — a company
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. firm — decided
  10. land — ground
  11. last — to go on
  12. firm — steady
  13. last — final
  14. degree — from a university
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. file — a document
  19. last — finally
  20. fine — all right
  21. land — a country
  22. fine — high quality
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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