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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. last — to go on
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. last — final
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bass — low music
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. tube — the underground
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bass — the fish
  14. tube — a container
  15. last — finally
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. capital — a city
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. capital — money
  22. cell — in biology
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — a tool

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