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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: arm · straw · court · band · stock · spell

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. spell — letters
  3. court — of a king
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spell — magic
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. band — a ring
  11. stock — goods
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. stock — shares
  18. spell — a short time

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