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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pop — music
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chest — of your body
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. firm — decided
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. ground — a position
  12. chest — a box
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — to shout
  16. firm — steady
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. ground — the earth
  24. firm — a company

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