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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · last · cold · fan · bear · firm · nail · jam

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. firm — steady
  3. last — finally
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. firm — a company
  6. cold — not warm
  7. game — wild animals
  8. firm — decided
  9. last — to go on
  10. bear — the animal
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. game — a match
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bear — the animal
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. last — final
  24. game — a kind of play

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