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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mate — a partner
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mate — to breed
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. mate — a friend
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitch — completely
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. kid — child
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. capital — money
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitch — a sports field

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