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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. kid — child
  16. rule — a law
  17. rule — government
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wound — an injury

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