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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. bound — tied together
  4. kid — child
  5. swing — music
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. spring — of water
  8. game — wild animals
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. kid — to tease
  12. swing — to play on
  13. last — to go on
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. swing — in golf
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. spring — the season
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. spring — a coil
  20. game — a match
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — certain
  24. arm — part of the 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