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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: rest · arm · cold · field · kid · stock · mate · rash

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. stock — goods
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rash — hasty
  13. field — a subject
  14. mate — a partner
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mate — a friend
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. stock — shares
  22. kid — child
  23. mate — to breed
  24. rash — a series

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