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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. kid — child
  5. hand — in cards
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. rash — hasty
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. staff — employees
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. capital — money
  19. rash — a series
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. staff — employees
  22. hand — help
  23. stand — to bear
  24. staff — a stick

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