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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tube — the underground
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. row — a line
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. row — to paddle
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — a container
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bear — the animal
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. spring — of water
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bear — the animal
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. spring — the season

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