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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. charge — a price
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. charge — electricity
  6. chest — a box
  7. sharp — clever
  8. capital — money
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. present — there
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — an illness
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. capital — a city
  22. charge — in control
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. present — the time now

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