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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — size or range
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. swing — to play on
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kick — in football
  8. net — after costs
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. craft — boats
  12. net — for catching
  13. shower — rain
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. scale — in music
  17. swing — music
  18. craft — a skill
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. net — in sport
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. swing — in golf

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