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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pass — a permit
  4. drill — a practice
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. craft — boats
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pound — a weight
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bound — tied together
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. drill — army training
  18. craft — a skill
  19. bound — obliged
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bound — certain
  24. wind — to turn a key

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