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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. chest — a box
  3. race — the arms race
  4. chest — of your body
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. mark — a trace
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — a video
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mark — a grade
  16. foot — a measure
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. race — humankind
  19. clip — to cut
  20. race — a contest
  21. degree — an amount
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — from a university
  24. court — of a king

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