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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. face — to confront
  4. present — the time now
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. capital — a city
  9. face — part of the head
  10. capital — money
  11. present — there
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. cold — not warm
  16. firm — decided
  17. firm — a company
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bass — the fish
  20. ball — a great time
  21. cold — an illness
  22. face — to point toward
  23. present — a gift
  24. capital — a big letter

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