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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. fork — in a road
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — farmland
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — for sport
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bore — to tire
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bat — the animal

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