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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. net — after costs
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — army training
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. shower — to wash
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. firm — a company
  14. roll — a list
  15. firm — steady
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. drill — a practice
  20. ball — a great time
  21. roll — a cake
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. net — for catching

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