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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. cell — in biology
  10. fine — all right
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cell — a phone
  17. ground — the earth
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. mine — for digging
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. capital — money
  22. fine — high quality
  23. capital — a city
  24. racket — for tennis

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