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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kid · bark · degree · straw · spell · nail · game · arm

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. kid — to tease
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spell — magic
  10. degree — an amount
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spell — letters
  20. game — a match
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. kid — child
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. arm — a part of something

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