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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wound — an injury
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. pitch — completely
  5. squash — to crush
  6. swing — music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wound — an injury
  9. firm — a company
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. toast — bread
  12. firm — decided
  13. row — a line
  14. squash — the sport
  15. swing — in golf
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. swing — to play on

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