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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. rest — what's left
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. row — a line
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rest — a break
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. drill — army training
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. row — to paddle
  22. chest — of your body
  23. sharp — clever
  24. rest — what's left

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