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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. ground — a position
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bat — the animal
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. scale — in music
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. scale — size or range
  18. ground — crushed
  19. clip — a video
  20. ground — the earth
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. clip — for paper
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. coach — pulled by horses

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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