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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rule — government
  10. march — the month
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. rule — a law
  15. mine — for digging
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. sharp — clever
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. fork — to eat with

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