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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 · race · sharp · saw · arm · band · cap · kid

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. race — the arms race
  4. saw — the tool
  5. kid — child
  6. race — a contest
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. sharp — clever
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. saw — the tool
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. band — a music group
  18. kid — to tease
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. cap — a hat
  22. race — humankind
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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