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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.

Make a worksheet

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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. spell — magic
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — for sport
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spell — a short time
  11. drill — army training
  12. kid — child
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. spell — letters
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool

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