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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bear — the animal
  6. present — there
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. foot — a measure
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bear — the animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. present — a gift
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chest — of your body

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