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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. net — for catching
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. current — electric
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mark — a trace
  10. current — of water
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mark — a grade
  18. current — happening now

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