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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. rest — a break
  3. game — a match
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. present — a gift
  6. firm — steady
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. game — wild animals
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rest — what's left
  16. present — the time now
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. pitch — completely
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. firm — a company
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. present — there
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rest — what's left

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