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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. club — a group
  3. bound — certain
  4. capital — money
  5. row — a line
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. club — for dancing
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bound — obliged
  19. snap — to click
  20. bound — tied together
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. club — for golf
  23. row — to paddle
  24. game — wild animals

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