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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: staff · jam · chair · race · fork · content · wound · temple

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — a stick
  6. chair — a leader
  7. race — humankind
  8. wound — an injury
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. race — a contest
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. content — happy
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. content — the amount
  19. fork — in a road
  20. staff — employees
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. staff — employees
  24. race — the arms race

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