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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: fan · fall · wax · hand · tube · bound · swing · arm

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. bound — obliged
  3. hand — help
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wax — to grow
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. swing — in golf
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bound — certain
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. tube — a container
  14. fall — to drop
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fall — the season
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bound — tied together
  20. swing — music
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. swing — to play on

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