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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  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. arm — part of the body
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. firm — steady
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. prune — to trim
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. drill — army training
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. file — a line of people
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ground — the earth
  18. drill — a practice
  19. file — a document
  20. firm — a company
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. arm — a part of something
  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