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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. staff — a stick
  5. row — to paddle
  6. hand — in cards
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. march — music
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. hand — help
  20. branch — a division
  21. dip — to sink
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. row — a line

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