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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. scale — size or range
  3. court — of law
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rest — a break
  9. court — for sport
  10. dip — to sink
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — a video
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rest — what's left
  18. scale — in music
  19. wake — a trail
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. rest — what's left
  23. clip — for paper
  24. dip — to dunk

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