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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. land — to come down
  3. firm — decided
  4. object — an aim
  5. land — a country
  6. land — ground
  7. object — a thing
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. present — there
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a tool
  14. present — a gift
  15. firm — a company
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. file — a document
  20. present — the time now
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. firm — steady

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