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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: squash · stem · track · face · chair · cold · pit · arm

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — a path
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pit — in a race
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — to crush
  18. track — to keep track
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. track — a song

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