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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: pound · roll · kid · arm · leaves · straw · nail · ground

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. roll — a cake
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ground — a position
  13. kid — child
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. kid — to tease
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pound — a weight
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. roll — a list
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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