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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ball — a great time
  6. last — final
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. last — to go on
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. season — in sport
  13. hand — help
  14. last — finally
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. ball — a dance
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — a company
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. hand — in cards
  23. season — of the year
  24. mine — belonging to me

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