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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rule — a law
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — help
  6. row — to paddle
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. hand — in cards
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rule — government
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. row — a line
  18. capital — money
  19. pitch — completely
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. arm — a part of something

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