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

Word bank: cold · content · ruler · chest · plane · firm · rest · game

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. game — wild animals
  3. content — happy
  4. plane — a tool
  5. game — a match
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rest — a break
  8. chest — a box
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — a company
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. content — the amount
  17. rest — what's left
  18. firm — steady
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rest — what's left
  24. ruler — for measuring

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