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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. spring — of water
  3. foot — a measure
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. spring — a coil
  8. file — a document
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pit — a hole
  13. firm — steady
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. branch — a division
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — the season
  21. firm — a company
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. file — a tool

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