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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. spell — magic
  3. wound — an injury
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. press — newspapers
  7. land — a country
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spell — letters
  12. roll — a cake
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. roll — a list
  15. wound — an injury
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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