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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: clip · kid · ruler · wound · chest · arm · squash · bay

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — for paper
  5. squash — to crush
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. kid — to tease
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chest — a box
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. clip — a video
  22. kid — child
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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