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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: cold · tube · degree · rash · lie · chair · arm · mouse

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. tube — a container
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. rash — a series
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lie — to recline
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rash — hasty
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cold — not warm
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. chair — a professorship

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