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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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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: mate · bat · arm · wound · board · drill · track · wind

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mate — a friend
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. track — a song
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wind — moving air
  7. board — to get on
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. track — a path
  11. mate — to breed
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wind — moving air
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. track — to keep track
  24. board — a committee

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