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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rock — a stone
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. march — the month
  10. chair — a leader
  11. march — music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rock — music
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. file — a tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — the month
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hide — animal skin

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