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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 · cold · jam · firm · cell · squash · pitch · present

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. firm — a company
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chest — a box
  5. firm — steady
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. present — a gift
  9. chest — of your body
  10. present — there
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. pitch — completely
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. squash — the sport
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. firm — decided
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cell — in biology

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