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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. staff — employees
  3. cap — a lid
  4. court — of a king
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kid — to tease
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cap — of ice
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. court — of law
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — a stick
  17. cap — a hat
  18. court — for sport
  19. face — part of the head
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cold — not warm
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — an illness

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