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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. firm — decided
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — not warm
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. rock — music
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bulb — for light
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. bulb — for light
  20. rock — a stone
  21. firm — a company
  22. wake — a trail
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bulb — of a plant

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