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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. present — the time now
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. field — a subject
  8. sharp — clever
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. tear — to rip
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. field — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. kick — in football
  18. present — there
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. spring — a coil
  22. field — farmland
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. present — a gift

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