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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: arm · wake · sharp · kid · wound · cell

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. kid — to tease
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cell — in biology
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cell — a phone
  16. kid — child
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wound — an injury

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