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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a song
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. track — a path
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tube — a container
  14. roll — a list
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. roll — a cake
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pitch — completely
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. kid — child

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