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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · hand · fan · spell · can · mine · degree · saw

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. hand — in cards
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. saw — the tool
  7. spell — letters
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. can — a tin
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. spell — a short time
  17. hand — help
  18. can — to be able to
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. mine — for digging
  23. degree — from a university
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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