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

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. last — finally
  3. cold — not warm
  4. firm — decided
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. last — to go on
  8. sharp — clever
  9. rash — a series
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. roll — a list
  13. cold — an illness
  14. firm — steady
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kid — to tease
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. roll — a cake
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. last — final
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. firm — a company

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