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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 · race · clip · stem · mate · arm · game · bark

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. game — a match
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. game — wild animals
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. clip — a video
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mate — a partner
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — to cut
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. mate — a friend
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. mate — to breed
  24. bat — the animal

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