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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rest — what's left
  3. hand — help
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. row — to paddle
  7. hand — in cards
  8. band — a ring
  9. net — for catching
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. band — a music group
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — to tease
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. row — a line
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. arm — part of the body

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