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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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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: file · chest · arm · drill · game · straw · shower · row

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. file — a document
  5. game — a match
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. chest — a box
  8. row — to paddle
  9. drill — army training
  10. shower — rain
  11. drill — the tool
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chest — of your body
  16. game — wild animals
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a tool
  20. shower — to wash
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. drill — a practice

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