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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — a video
  10. bound — certain
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — tied together
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bound — obliged
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fan — to cool the air

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