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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. present — there
  4. mine — for digging
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. fall — to drop
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. present — the time now
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. present — a gift
  12. kid — to tease
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. game — wild animals
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — a match
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. lash — an eyelash

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