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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. mug — a face
  3. wind — moving air
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. mug — a cup
  9. field — a subject
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — of ice
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wind — moving air
  18. field — for sport
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. mug — to rob
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. kick — in football
  24. bark — to shout

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