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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. game — wild animals
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. fork — in a road
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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