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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · arm · race · swing · toast · kid

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. 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. race — a contest
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cap — a lid
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. race — humankind
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. swing — music
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cap — a hat
  13. swing — to play on
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cap — of ice
  16. race — the arms race
  17. swing — in golf
  18. 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