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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. last — finally
  4. mug — a face
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. last — to go on
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. club — for golf
  12. mug — a cup
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bank — of a river
  17. last — final
  18. bank — for money
  19. clip — a video
  20. bank — for money
  21. mug — to rob
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — a group
  24. clip — to cut

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