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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · spring · straw · hand · chest · ball · capital · racket

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. chest — of your body
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — the season
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spring — of water
  16. ball — a dance
  17. spring — a coil
  18. ball — a great time
  19. capital — money
  20. hand — help
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. chest — a box
  24. racket — for tennis

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