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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. tube — the underground
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — final
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. deal — to handle
  8. hand — help
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. net — after costs
  12. tube — a container
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. last — to go on
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. cell — in biology
  21. degree — temperature
  22. last — finally
  23. cell — a phone
  24. arm — a part of something

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