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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — army training
  6. clip — for paper
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. hand — in cards
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bore — to tire
  11. ball — a dance
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bore — to drill
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. ball — a great time
  19. hand — help
  20. bat — the animal
  21. drill — the tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. bore — gave birth

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