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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 120 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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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: dip · straw · fork · hand · wound · arm · cold · bore

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. dip — to sink
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bore — to tire
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fork — in a road
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. wound — an injury
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. dip — a sauce

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