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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. drill — the tool
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. kid — child
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — to tease
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. court — of a king
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. degree — an amount
  19. court — for sport
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — of law
  24. arm — part of the body

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