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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: hand · game · last · arm · straw · track · shower · staff

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. track — to keep track
  4. shower — rain
  5. last — final
  6. staff — employees
  7. shower — to wash
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. staff — employees
  13. hand — help
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. track — a song
  18. hand — in cards
  19. last — to go on
  20. staff — a stick
  21. track — a path
  22. game — wild animals
  23. last — finally
  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