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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. row — to paddle
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chest — a box
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. degree — an amount
  14. row — a line
  15. bat — the animal
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bass — low music
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bound — tied together
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bound — certain
  24. bat — for baseball

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