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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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Word bank
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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: row · kid · march · mouse · fall · ground · face · arm

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. kid — child
  7. march — music
  8. fall — to drop
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. face — to confront
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. face — part of the head
  18. row — to paddle
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. row — a line
  22. march — the month
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ground — the earth

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