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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. firm — a company
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. last — final
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. firm — decided
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cell — in biology
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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