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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. band — a music group
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — newspapers
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a ring
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. press — to push
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — belonging to me

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