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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. present — there
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. spring — of water
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a line of people
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. chest — of your body
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. spring — a coil
  13. last — to go on
  14. file — a document
  15. ground — a position
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. chest — a box
  18. ground — the earth
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — to bear
  21. file — a tool
  22. present — a gift
  23. spring — the season
  24. last — finally

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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