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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. staff — employees
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. band — a ring
  9. court — of a king
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. board — to get on
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wind — moving air
  15. board — a committee
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. court — of law
  18. staff — employees
  19. court — for sport
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wind — moving air

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