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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: rest · stem · arm · band · straw · kid · tube · hand

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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 — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kid — to tease
  11. stem — to come from
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. band — a music group
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. tube — a container
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — help
  22. band — a ring
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. band — a rubber band

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