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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chest — a box
  10. rest — a break
  11. game — a match
  12. shower — to wash
  13. game — wild animals
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chest — of your body
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. shower — rain
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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