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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 120 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: arm · nail · wound · last · hide · cold · rule · plane

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. last — final
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wound — an injury
  8. last — to go on
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. plane — a tool
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rule — a law
  17. last — finally
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — to rule out

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