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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. land — a country
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. net — after costs
  6. row — to paddle
  7. clip — a video
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. season — in sport
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. chest — of your body
  15. row — a line
  16. bear — the animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. season — of the year
  20. net — for catching
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. net — in sport
  23. bear — the animal
  24. row — a quarrel

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