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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. firm — steady
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. last — to go on
  11. prune — to trim
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. firm — a company
  14. object — an aim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. last — final
  18. object — a thing
  19. clip — a video
  20. object — to protest
  21. prune — to trim
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. last — finally

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