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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: rock · march · straw · wind · pop · stem · arm · last

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. march — music
  3. last — final
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stem — to come from
  6. wind — moving air
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. last — to go on
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. march — the month
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. last — finally
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pop — to visit
  16. march — the month
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pop — music
  21. rock — music
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rock — a stone
  24. pop — soda

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