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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 124 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. suit — in cards
  4. drill — a practice
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wound — an injury
  8. suit — to fit
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. row — to paddle
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. hand — help
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. drill — army training
  16. mine — for digging
  17. drill — the tool
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. suit — clothes
  23. row — a line
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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