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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: straw · root · drill · rash · stem · fork · arm · bat

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. root — of a plant
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bat — the animal
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a word
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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