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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: land · snap · hand · race · cap · fine · arm · wind

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. race — a contest
  4. land — a country
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wind — moving air
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. race — the arms race
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — of ice
  16. fine — high quality
  17. cap — a hat
  18. land — to come down
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. land — ground
  21. fine — all right
  22. snap — to click
  23. race — humankind
  24. fine — a penalty

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