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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. ground — the earth
  9. content — happy
  10. degree — an amount
  11. firm — a company
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. lean — thin
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lean — to bend
  16. degree — from a university
  17. saw — the tool
  18. file — a tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. file — a document
  21. firm — steady
  22. content — the amount
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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