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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. ball — a great time
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spell — magic
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ground — the earth
  8. spring — the season
  9. ground — crushed
  10. spell — letters
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. last — final
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. spell — a short time
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — finally
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ground — a position
  21. race — the arms race
  22. last — to go on
  23. lie — to recline
  24. spring — a coil

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