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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. squash — the sport
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a skill
  12. clip — to cut
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. drill — army training
  16. file — a tool
  17. squash — to crush
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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