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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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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: clip · vault · hand · rash · wake · arm · wave · cold

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rash — a series
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. hand — in cards
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. clip — to cut
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wake — a trail
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. clip — a video
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — a safe
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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