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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. land — to come down
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. degree — an amount
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chest — a box
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stem — to come from
  15. bat — the animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. land — ground
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. land — a country

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