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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. field — a subject
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. hand — help
  8. race — a contest
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. race — the arms race
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — in cards
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. race — humankind
  22. field — for sport
  23. saw — the tool
  24. foot — a measure

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