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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. court — of law
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — for sport
  6. stem — to come from
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chest — a box
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. pit — in a race
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pit — a hole
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. court — of a king
  22. content — happy
  23. chest — of your body
  24. content — videos and posts

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