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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. club — for golf
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kid — child
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for dancing
  8. mate — to breed
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — to tease
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cell — in biology
  23. degree — temperature
  24. arm — a part of something

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