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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. track — to keep track
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. ball — a dance
  7. track — a path
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. spring — the season
  12. track — a song
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spring — a coil
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. wound — an injury
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. ball — a great time
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spring — of water

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