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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chip — to eat
  3. last — to go on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — a box
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. march — music
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chip — for betting
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — finally
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. last — final
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. march — the month
  24. foot — part of the 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