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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: kid · wound · wind · snap · bat · ball · arm · can

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kid — child
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ball — a dance
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bat — the animal
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wind — moving air
  15. snap — to click
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. can — to be able to
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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