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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: bear · straw · kid · saw · staff · arm · net · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. staff — a stick
  4. net — for catching
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. kid — child
  8. bear — the animal
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. saw — the tool
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bear — the animal
  17. net — after costs
  18. kid — to tease
  19. net — in sport
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. staff — employees
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — employees

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