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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. march — the month
  4. cell — in biology
  5. race — a contest
  6. deal — to handle
  7. land — ground
  8. tube — a container
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — a phone
  14. tube — the underground
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. march — music
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chair — a leader
  21. march — the month
  22. land — a country
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. race — humankind

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