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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: sharp · racket · shower · kid · wound · mouse · arm · capital

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. kid — child
  5. shower — rain
  6. sharp — clever
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. kid — to tease
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wound — an injury
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — money
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. capital — a city
  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