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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.

Make a worksheet

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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468
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: march · cold · arm · wound · cabinet · mouse · hide · fall

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. march — music
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. march — the month
  18. wound — an injury
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. mouse — the animal

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