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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: tear · row · jam · wind · plane · chest · arm · wound

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tear — from crying
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tear — from crying
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wind — moving air
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wind — moving air
  22. plane — a tool
  23. row — a line
  24. arm — part of the body

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