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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. prune — to trim
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. field — for sport
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. race — humankind
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. field — farmland
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. field — a subject
  16. foot — a measure
  17. pitch — completely
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. race — the arms race
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bat — the animal
  24. race — a contest

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