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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: arm · straw · fan · cold · bear · kid · net · plane

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. kid — child
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. net — after costs
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bear — the animal
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. bear — the animal
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. fan — a supporter

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