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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. band — a ring
  4. tear — to rip
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a music group
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — a leader
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pop — soda
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kid — child
  24. object — a thing

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