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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: present · straw · rule · object · tube · field · arm · hand

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. hand — in cards
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. object — an aim
  7. object — a thing
  8. rule — government
  9. object — to protest
  10. present — a gift
  11. field — farmland
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tube — the underground
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — a law
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. field — for sport
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. present — the time now
  24. rule — to rule out

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