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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wax — to grow
  5. snap — to click
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. branch — a division
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. present — the time now
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. present — a gift
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. dip — to sink
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. present — there
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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