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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. suit — to fit
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. net — after costs
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — in biology
  7. foot — a measure
  8. march — music
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — an illness
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cell — a phone
  14. net — for catching
  15. suit — clothes
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. march — the month
  18. net — in sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. suit — in cards
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. cold — the Cold War

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