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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — finally
  5. net — for catching
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. drill — the tool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. last — to go on
  10. drill — army training
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. net — in sport
  13. cell — a phone
  14. last — final
  15. cold — an illness
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cold — not warm
  19. band — a music group
  20. net — after costs
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. drill — a practice
  24. band — a ring

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