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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. capital — a city
  5. perch — the fish
  6. capital — money
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chip — for betting
  12. foot — a measure
  13. kid — child
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. date — the fruit
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — a big letter

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