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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. firm — steady
  3. stand — to bear
  4. present — the time now
  5. object — to protest
  6. firm — decided
  7. object — a thing
  8. present — there
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a hole
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. object — an aim
  15. cold — an illness
  16. present — a gift
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. firm — a company
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stand — for spectators

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