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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 120 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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. content — the amount
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. mug — a face
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. mug — a cup
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. content — happy
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. net — after costs
  21. mug — to rob
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. dip — to sink
  24. straw — dry grass

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