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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: drill · cold · firm · saw · march · arm · kick · present

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. present — there
  6. march — the month
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. firm — steady
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. firm — a company
  14. kick — in football
  15. cold — not warm
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. firm — decided
  19. drill — a practice
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — the tool
  24. kick — with a leg

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