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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. drill — army training
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bore — to drill
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. drill — a practice
  12. wake — a trail
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to tire
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. cold — an illness
  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