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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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468
Word bank
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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. lean — thin
  8. hand — in cards
  9. present — there
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. present — a gift
  14. kid — child
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — to tease
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. stem — to come from
  20. capital — a city
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. present — the time now
  23. lean — to bend
  24. wind — to turn a key

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