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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. pass — a permit
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. lean — thin
  7. ball — a great time
  8. rash — hasty
  9. ball — a dance
  10. squash — the sport
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rash — a series
  14. kid — to tease
  15. lean — to bend
  16. squash — to crush
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. scale — size or range
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. kid — child

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