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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. spring — the season
  3. firm — decided
  4. race — a contest
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. object — to protest
  9. firm — a company
  10. spring — of water
  11. row — to paddle
  12. race — humankind
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. file — a tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. object — an aim
  18. degree — an amount
  19. row — a line
  20. object — a thing
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spring — a coil
  23. degree — from a university
  24. race — the arms race

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