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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. clip — to cut
  3. last — final
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. object — an aim
  8. object — a thing
  9. mug — to rob
  10. clip — for paper
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mug — a cup
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. mug — a face
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — to protest
  22. stand — to bear
  23. land — to come down
  24. stand — on your feet

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