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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bound — certain
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. last — final
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cap — a hat
  9. kid — child
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cap — of ice
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. last — finally
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cell — in biology
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. last — to go on
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. bound — obliged

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