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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.

Make a worksheet

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

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. drill — army training
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chest — of your body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — a gift
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. present — there
  17. cold — an illness
  18. present — the time now

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