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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. season — of the year
  3. tube — the underground
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. swing — in golf
  6. last — to go on
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. last — final
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. last — finally
  12. kid — child
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. season — in sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. swing — to play on
  22. bulb — for light
  23. swing — music
  24. rash — a series

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