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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pop — music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. foot — a measure
  6. chest — a box
  7. face — to point toward
  8. firm — steady
  9. chest — of your body
  10. face — to confront
  11. pop — to visit
  12. face — part of the head
  13. capital — a city
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pop — soda
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. firm — decided
  19. spring — the season
  20. capital — money
  21. cold — an illness
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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