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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. pit — a hole
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. spring — of water
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — the animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. court — of law
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pit — in a race
  19. ball — a dance
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. spring — the season
  23. ball — a great time
  24. court — for sport

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