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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 120 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. chest — a box
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. saw — the tool
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. content — happy
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. saw — the tool
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — for digging
  21. lean — thin
  22. lean — to bend
  23. content — the amount
  24. chest — of your body

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