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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness 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. dip — a sauce
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. capital — money
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. march — the month
  13. land — ground
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — a city
  16. march — music
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. chest — a box
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. chest — of your body
  21. dip — to sink
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. chest — of your body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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