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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. fall — to drop
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fork — in a road
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. race — humankind
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — to grow
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. race — a contest
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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