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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. mark — a trace
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mine — for digging
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — a weight
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mark — a grade
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive

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