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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stem — to come from
  4. branch — a division
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. rest — what's left
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rest — what's left
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — not warm
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rest — a break
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kick — in football

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