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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. board — a committee
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cell — in biology
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cell — a phone
  9. rock — a stone
  10. scale — in music
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. board — to get on
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. wound — an injury
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. scale — size or range

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