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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mug — to rob
  3. last — final
  4. firm — a company
  5. mug — a cup
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. last — to go on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mug — a face
  10. pop — soda
  11. face — to confront
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. face — to point toward
  14. cold — not warm
  15. last — finally
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — an illness
  18. firm — decided
  19. pop — to visit
  20. firm — steady
  21. pop — music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. bat — the animal

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