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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — clever
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. wind — moving air
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pass — a permit
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. chest — a box
  18. row — to paddle

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