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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. ball — a great time
  5. face — to point toward
  6. net — in sport
  7. rule — government
  8. net — for catching
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. band — a music group
  12. face — to confront
  13. face — part of the head
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. kid — child
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — to tease
  18. band — a ring
  19. net — after costs
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ball — a dance
  22. rule — a law
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. hand — in cards

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