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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mine — for digging
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. ground — a position
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. court — of a king
  15. ground — the earth
  16. court — of law
  17. bear — the animal
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. chest — a box
  20. cold — an illness
  21. court — for sport
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ground — crushed

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