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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: chest · cell · roll · wound · arm · wake · court · suit

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. suit — to fit
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. roll — a list
  7. suit — clothes
  8. court — of a king
  9. chest — a box
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — for sport
  15. cell — a phone
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chest — of your body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. suit — in cards
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  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