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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. file — a line of people
  5. board — to get on
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. press — a publisher
  11. file — a tool
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — the animal
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. board — a committee
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. row — to paddle
  18. press — to push
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. press — newspapers
  24. file — a document

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