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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chair — a leader
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. content — happy
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. toast — bread
  11. snap — to click
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — not warm
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. content — the amount
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. present — a gift
  24. ruler — for measuring

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