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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — a video
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. row — a line
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mark — a trace
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — for paper
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. mark — a grade
  24. trunk — of a car

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