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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. last — final
  6. drill — army training
  7. land — ground
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. row — a line
  13. track — a song
  14. last — finally
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. track — a path
  20. last — to go on
  21. drill — a practice
  22. track — to keep track
  23. drill — the tool
  24. row — to paddle

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