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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 120 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. clip — to cut
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. bass — the fish
  10. row — to paddle
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bass — low music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. chest — a box
  18. kid — to tease
  19. row — a line
  20. chest — of your body
  21. clip — a video
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. kid — child

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