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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pit — in a race
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spell — magic
  7. march — music
  8. spell — letters
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. march — the month
  16. pit — a hole
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. chest — of your body
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. spell — a short time

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