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

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. drill — army training
  3. file — a tool
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — a practice
  10. pound — a weight
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. cold — not warm
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. file — a document
  15. cold — an illness
  16. drill — the tool
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. file — a line of people

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