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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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468
Word bank
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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. tear — from crying
  13. content — happy
  14. foot — a measure
  15. band — a ring
  16. wound — an injury
  17. band — a music group
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. file — a document
  20. content — the amount
  21. chair — a leader
  22. file — a tool
  23. chest — a box
  24. wound — an injury

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