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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. stand — to bear
  4. bass — the fish
  5. chest — of your body
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. chest — of your body
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. file — a tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — an amount
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bass — low music
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. chest — a box
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. degree — temperature

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