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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · pit · net · tear · cell · jam

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. chest — of your body
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. net — after costs
  9. cell — in biology
  10. net — for catching
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. net — in sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pit — a hole
  16. chest — a box
  17. pit — in a race
  18. cell — in a prison

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