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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. cap — a hat
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fall — the season
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cap — a lid
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. band — a music group
  14. row — a line
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. fall — to drop
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chest — a box
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. fall — to drop

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