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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. ball — a great time
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. race — humankind
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ball — a dance
  17. prune — to trim
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bulb — for light
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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