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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — clever
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. net — in sport
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. file — a tool
  10. net — after costs
  11. game — wild animals
  12. net — for catching
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. tube — a container
  18. vault — a safe
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. game — a match
  22. tube — the underground
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. fork — in a road

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