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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. last — to go on
  5. firm — decided
  6. pass — a permit
  7. firm — steady
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. firm — a company
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — final
  18. content — happy
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. content — the amount
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. cold — the Cold War

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