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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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. jam — in traffic
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — completely
  10. game — a match
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. band — a ring
  16. game — wild animals
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. band — a music group
  24. ground — a position

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