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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bound — obliged
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cue — a signal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. land — a country
  8. cue — a hint
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cue — for pool
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — to come down
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bound — certain
  24. land — ground

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