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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. march — the month
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. march — music
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wind — moving air
  11. vault — a safe
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a hole
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. march — the month
  24. field — a subject

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