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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. tear — to rip
  7. capital — money
  8. rule — government
  9. rule — a law
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. cell — a phone
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fork — a garden tool

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