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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: cell · chair · mate · cold · tear · chest · fine · bass

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cell — in biology
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mate — a friend
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — a box
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fine — high quality
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fine — all right
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bass — low music
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mate — to breed

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