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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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Word bank
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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: wound · fall · deal · nail · hand · coach · rush · cell

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. fall — the season
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fall — to drop
  8. hand — help
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. hand — in cards
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. rush — hurry
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cell — a phone
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. wound — an injury
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. deal — to handle
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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