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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: kid · scale · arm · cell · roll · press · tear · rock

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. roll — a list
  3. rock — music
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. cell — a phone
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rock — a stone
  9. press — to push
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. roll — a cake
  15. kid — child
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tear — from crying
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — newspapers
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. roll — on a roll

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