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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. tube — a container
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cap — a hat
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pop — soda
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pop — to visit
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a lid
  16. date — the fruit
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pop — music
  19. bark — to shout
  20. tube — the underground
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cap — of ice

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