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

Word bank: stick · arm · chest · pound · cue · bat · game · clip

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — a video
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cue — a hint
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. chest — a box
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. game — wild animals

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