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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — a match
  8. ball — a dance
  9. drill — a practice
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rock — music
  14. mate — a friend
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. rock — a stone
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. drill — army training
  19. game — wild animals
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cold — not warm

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