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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. spring — the season
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chest — a box
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. content — happy
  17. spring — of water
  18. file — a document
  19. cell — a phone
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. cell — in biology
  22. content — the amount
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. chair — to sit on

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