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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. last — finally
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — final
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — happy
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. foot — a measure
  15. pitch — completely
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chest — a box
  18. cold — an illness
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. can — a tin
  22. tear — from crying
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pitch — a sports field

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