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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. saw — the tool
  5. stem — to come from
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — an amount
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitch — completely
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. degree — from a university
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. kid — child
  24. arm — a part of something

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