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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  3. last — to go on
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. last — final
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. firm — steady
  8. fork — in a road
  9. degree — temperature
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. firm — a company
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. game — a match
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — wild animals
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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