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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. snap — to click
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — of water
  5. wound — an injury
  6. drill — army training
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. drill — the tool
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. drill — a practice
  17. spring — the season
  18. dip — to sink
  19. wound — an injury
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. spring — a coil
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. stem — to come from

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