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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — to tease
  9. track — a song
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. lean — to bend
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chip — for betting
  15. wound — an injury
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. chip — to eat
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. lean — thin
  24. chip — in a computer

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