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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pit — a hole
  4. band — a music group
  5. ball — a great time
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cell — a phone
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bound — obliged
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bound — certain
  17. band — a ring
  18. bound — tied together
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. ball — a dance
  22. tear — to rip
  23. pit — in a race
  24. arm — a part of something

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