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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — boats
  4. staff — a stick
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. row — to paddle
  9. game — a match
  10. row — a line
  11. capital — a city
  12. game — wild animals
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. track — to keep track
  17. rule — a law
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. staff — employees
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. capital — money
  23. rule — government
  24. staff — employees

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