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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. last — to go on
  3. staff — employees
  4. object — an aim
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chest — of your body
  8. last — final
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. kid — child
  14. last — finally
  15. chest — a box
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. staff — employees
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. object — a thing
  22. object — to protest
  23. staff — a stick
  24. wave — of the sea

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