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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. squash — to crush
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wax — to grow
  6. squash — the sport
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. chair — a leader
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. tube — a container
  23. pitch — completely
  24. nail — for a hammer

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