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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. spring — of water
  5. last — to go on
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. present — there
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. game — wild animals
  12. drill — the tool
  13. spring — the season
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — a gift
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bore — to drill
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — army training
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. bore — to tire
  23. spring — a coil
  24. game — a match

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