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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: season · wound · cold · jam · straw · key · chest · hand

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. key — in music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. season — in sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. chest — a box
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chest — of your body
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. wound — an injury
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. season — of the year
  23. key — the most important part
  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