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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mate — a partner
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. deal — to handle
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — to play on
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. mate — to breed
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. capital — a city
  16. tube — a container
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. mine — for digging
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mate — a friend
  22. capital — money
  23. wound — an injury
  24. swing — music

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