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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bat — the animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. current — electric
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. current — happening now
  18. rash — a series
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. date — the fruit
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. current — of water
  24. pound — a weight

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