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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 · land · jam · arm · stem · rash · chest · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. land — ground
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. land — to come down
  13. rash — hasty
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rash — a series
  17. cold — an illness
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. chest — a box
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. land — a country

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