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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: chair · spring · wound · jam · pitcher · toast · chest · tube

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. spring — of water
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. tube — the underground
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. toast — bread
  10. spring — the season
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. tube — a container
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — a coil

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