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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: hand · wake · cap · vault · arm · rule · march · wind

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. march — music
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — a trail
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. vault — a safe
  10. cap — a lid
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. rule — a law
  22. march — the month
  23. rule — government
  24. cap — of ice

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