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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 laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. last — final
  7. staff — a stick
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. hand — help
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. kid — to tease
  12. last — finally
  13. race — the arms race
  14. staff — employees
  15. last — to go on
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chest — a box
  19. race — a contest
  20. staff — employees
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. race — humankind
  24. jam — in traffic

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