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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. march — music
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chest — of your body
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. march — the month
  15. season — of the year
  16. sharp — clever
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. season — in sport
  19. pop — to visit
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — soda

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