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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chair — a leader
  4. toast — bread
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. chest — of your body
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cap — of ice
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cap — a hat
  21. game — a match
  22. band — a music group
  23. cap — a lid
  24. band — a ring

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