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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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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: suit · wound · degree · mine · cell · kid · arm · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. suit — clothes
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. fall — the season
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wound — an injury
  11. kid — child
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cell — in biology
  18. suit — to fit
  19. cell — a phone
  20. suit — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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