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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rush — hurry
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. firm — decided
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bat — the animal
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cap — a lid
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. firm — a company
  22. pit — a hole
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. cold — the Cold War

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