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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: stand · arm · tear · straw · bat · clip · coach · fall

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bat — the animal
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. clip — a video
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stand — to bear
  15. fall — the season
  16. clip — for paper
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fall — to drop
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. arm — part of the body

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