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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: arm · hand · chip · straw · rash · trunk · sharp · cap

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rash — hasty
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cap — of ice
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. sharp — clever
  12. chip — for betting
  13. chip — to eat
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cap — a lid
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. rash — a series
  18. cap — a hat
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. arm — part of the body

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