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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: race · straw · tube · arm · fall · coach · mine · snap

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. tube — the underground
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. snap — to click
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. fall — the season
  12. race — a contest
  13. fall — to drop
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. race — humankind
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. mine — for digging
  18. tube — a container
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fall — to drop
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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