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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. firm — steady
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bound — obliged
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cold — an illness
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bound — certain
  13. plane — a tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. firm — a company
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bound — tied together
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. row — a line
  22. firm — decided
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. game — a match

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