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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. season — in sport
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. prune — to trim
  12. season — of the year
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. game — wild animals
  19. kid — child
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — to tease

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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