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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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 — of your body
  3. craft — a skill
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. hand — help
  8. chest — a box
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. craft — boats
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cap — a lid
  16. hand — in cards
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chest — of your body
  22. saw — the tool
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — magic

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