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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chest — a box
  5. spring — a coil
  6. dip — to sink
  7. tube — the underground
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tube — a container
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — the season
  19. chip — for betting
  20. spring — of water
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. toast — bread
  24. dip — a sauce

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