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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. stock — goods
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. rock — a stone
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. band — a ring
  12. rule — a law
  13. rock — music
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. band — a music group
  16. rule — government
  17. stock — shares
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bat — for baseball

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