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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. shower — to wash
  4. net — in sport
  5. shower — rain
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. spring — a coil
  8. net — after costs
  9. ground — a position
  10. spring — the season
  11. wax — to grow
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ground — crushed
  14. spring — of water
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — child
  18. net — for catching
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. arm — part of the body

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