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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. stock — shares
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. field — a subject
  10. saw — the tool
  11. suit — clothes
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. suit — in cards
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. suit — to fit
  19. field — for sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. stock — goods
  22. pitch — completely
  23. saw — the tool
  24. field — farmland

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