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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. hand — help
  8. drill — army training
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wax — to grow
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cold — not warm
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wax — for sculpting

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