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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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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: bat · plane · arm · straw · wound · chest · cap · scale

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wound — an injury
  11. scale — size or range
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wound — an injury
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. cap — a hat
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cap — of ice
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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