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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mug — a face
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. last — final
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. net — for catching
  14. mug — a cup
  15. rock — music
  16. mug — to rob
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. net — in sport
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. rock — a stone
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. net — after costs

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