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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. kid — child
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. file — a line of people
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cell — in biology
  11. last — finally
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. last — final
  16. cell — a phone
  17. file — a document
  18. last — to go on
  19. cue — a signal
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cue — for pool
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. arm — part of the body

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