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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: wound · foot · jam · file · chest · band · snap · rule

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. foot — a measure
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. wound — an injury
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. file — a line of people
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. rule — a law
  12. file — a document
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. rule — government
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. chest — of your body
  18. band — a ring
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. file — a tool
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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