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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. file — a document
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. field — a subject
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bat — the animal
  8. suit — clothes
  9. squash — the sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. suit — in cards
  14. field — for sport
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. suit — to fit
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. file — a line of people
  20. field — farmland
  21. cell — in biology
  22. squash — to crush
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. mine — for digging

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