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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. content — happy
  7. net — for catching
  8. scale — size or range
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. scale — in music
  15. shower — rain
  16. content — the amount
  17. net — in sport
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. net — after costs
  20. ball — a dance
  21. shower — to wash
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a great time

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