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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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. prune — the fruit
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. sharp — clever
  11. club — for golf
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. chest — of your body
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. chest — a box
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. present — a gift
  22. club — a group
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. club — for dancing

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