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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: spring · file · arm · kid · pitch · wind · chip · leaves

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. spring — a coil
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — child
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. file — a tool
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. chip — for betting
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. spring — of water
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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