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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — to be able to
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. wind — moving air
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cold — an illness
  7. shower — rain
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — to wash
  12. can — a tin
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. last — to go on
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. last — finally
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. last — final

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