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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: kid · present · arm · craft · straw · wound · chest · rock

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. present — the time now
  4. wound — an injury
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. kid — child
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kid — to tease
  9. chest — a box
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rock — music
  12. present — a gift
  13. rock — a stone
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. craft — a skill
  16. present — there
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chest — of your body
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. straw — dry grass

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