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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. roll — a cake
  3. clip — for paper
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wind — moving air
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mug — a face
  8. clip — a video
  9. shower — rain
  10. court — of law
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. roll — a list
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. track — a path
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. court — of a king
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. mug — to rob
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mug — a cup
  23. track — a song
  24. court — for sport

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