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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. spring — the season
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — temperature
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. clip — to cut
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — the arms race
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — humankind
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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