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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Hold the papers together with 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. capital — a city
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. kid — child
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. chest — of your body
  7. deal — to handle
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a partner
  12. mate — a friend
  13. saw — the tool
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. kid — to tease
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mate — to breed
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. capital — money
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — for paper

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