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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 120 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: ground · arm · march · squash · kid · chip · game · temple

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. squash — the sport
  4. ground — crushed
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chip — for betting
  11. ground — the earth
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. kid — to tease
  15. march — the month
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. chip — to eat
  18. ground — a position
  19. game — a match
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. squash — to crush
  24. game — wild animals

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