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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: safe · chest · wind · arm · last · wound · root · hand

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. root — of a plant
  6. chest — a box
  7. last — final
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — in cards
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. root — the cause
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. root — of a word
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — finally
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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