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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  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 — part of the body
  2. mug — to rob
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. pit — in a race
  5. rash — hasty
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pit — a hole
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — a cup
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. rash — a series
  15. sharp — clever
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mug — a face
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. hand — help
  23. roll — a list
  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