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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: cold · wave · firm · game · field · bound · arm · nail

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — wild animals
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — a subject
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. field — for sport
  11. firm — a company
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. firm — steady
  16. field — farmland
  17. firm — decided
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. bound — certain
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bound — tied together
  24. cold — an illness

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