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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: hand · wound · tear · field · arm · nail · cabinet · scale

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — help
  8. scale — in music
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — farmland
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. tear — from crying
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. tear — to rip
  24. field — a subject

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