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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — for sport
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — a box
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. field — farmland
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. jam — a tight spot

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