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

Word bank: arm · cold · pound · lash · stock · straw

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. stock — shares
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stock — goods
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pound — a weight

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