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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: arm · fall · season · chest · cell · pit · march · straw

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  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. chest — of your body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. march — music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. chest — a box
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pit — a hole
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — in sport
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. season — of the year
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. march — the month
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  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