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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bank — for money
  4. chest — of your body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. court — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wake — a trail
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — a box
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. chest — of your body
  16. court — of law
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bank — of a river
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. cell — a phone
  21. court — of a king
  22. field — for sport
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bank — for money

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