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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. firm — a company
  4. firm — decided
  5. degree — an amount
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. last — final
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mark — a grade
  14. firm — steady
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. last — to go on
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. last — finally
  24. cold — an illness

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