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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  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. capital — a city
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. file — a document
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. face — part of the head
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. face — to confront
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. march — music
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a tool
  17. march — the month
  18. face — to point toward
  19. saw — the tool
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. chip — to eat
  22. capital — money
  23. march — the month
  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