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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rush — hurry
  3. net — in sport
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. net — for catching
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chest — a box
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cell — in biology
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. net — after costs
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. chest — of your body

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