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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — to crush
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. squash — the sport
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. toast — bread
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. jam — in traffic

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