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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. press — to push
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. field — farmland
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rock — music
  11. snap — to click
  12. row — to paddle
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. rock — a stone
  15. field — for sport
  16. press — newspapers
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. field — a subject
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. game — wild animals
  21. press — a publisher
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. row — a line
  24. mate — to breed

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