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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — hasty
  8. chest — a box
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cell — in biology
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. march — the month
  15. row — a line
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. ground — crushed
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. ground — the earth
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rash — a series
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ground — a position

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