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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: date · last · snap · clip · arm · ball · kid · row

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. date — the fruit
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — to go on
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. kid — child
  9. row — a line
  10. ball — a dance
  11. kid — to tease
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. row — to paddle
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. last — final
  17. snap — to click
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. ball — a great time
  22. last — finally
  23. clip — a video
  24. date — on the calendar

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