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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — money
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. court — of a king
  8. fine — all right
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. chest — a box
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. court — for sport
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. foot — a measure
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. capital — a city
  23. court — of law
  24. fine — a penalty

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