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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. charge — a price
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. rash — a series
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. branch — a division
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — the underground
  16. file — a document
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. rash — hasty
  19. charge — electricity
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. charge — in control
  23. spring — the season
  24. branch — of a bank

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