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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 120 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: straw · race · band · land · lie · arm · wind · bay

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. bay — a horse colour
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wind — moving air
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. race — the arms race
  10. land — ground
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. race — humankind
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. wind — moving air
  19. race — a contest
  20. band — a music group
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. lie — to recline
  23. band — a ring
  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