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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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Word bank
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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. swing — to play on
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — there
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. present — a gift
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — a match
  12. swing — music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. present — the time now
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cold — an illness
  23. swing — in golf
  24. arm — part of the body

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