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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. roll — a list
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. swing — music
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spell — letters
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. spell — magic
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a great time
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wake — a trail
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pitcher — a jug

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