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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. field — farmland
  3. firm — decided
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — to wash
  7. date — the fruit
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mark — a trace
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. mark — a grade
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. shower — rain
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. firm — a company
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. firm — steady

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