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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. field — a subject
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. hand — help
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — in cards
  17. field — for sport
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bowl — a football final

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