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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 120 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tube — a container
  4. cell — in biology
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cell — a phone
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. chair — a leader
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. chest — a box
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. content — the amount
  17. kid — child
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. kid — to tease
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. object — to protest
  23. chest — of your body
  24. object — an aim

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