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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 · dip · chair · current · arm · track · stick

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. dip — to sink
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — to keep track
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. current — electric
  11. current — happening now
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. current — of water
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. track — a song
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. track — a path

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