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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: shower · chair · sharp · scale · race · arm · chest · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chair — a leader
  3. race — the arms race
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. race — humankind
  6. chest — a box
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — a contest
  9. shower — rain
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. shower — to wash
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. scale — size or range
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. sharp — clever
  21. chest — of your body
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. scale — in music
  24. chest — of your 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