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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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 — to hurry
  3. rock — a stone
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rock — music
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. face — to point toward
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. face — to confront
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. game — a match
  17. kid — child
  18. field — for sport
  19. face — part of the head
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rush — hurry
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — farmland

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