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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. pitch — completely
  3. degree — temperature
  4. net — in sport
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. firm — steady
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. degree — from a university
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. file — a line of people
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. firm — a company
  18. stem — to come from
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cold — an illness
  23. net — after costs
  24. stem — a stem cell

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