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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: chest · scale · mug · clip · arm · last · saw · roll

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. last — to go on
  5. scale — size or range
  6. chest — a box
  7. mug — a cup
  8. roll — a list
  9. clip — to cut
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. mug — a face
  13. saw — the tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. last — final
  16. clip — a video
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. saw — the tool
  19. scale — in music
  20. last — finally
  21. mug — to rob
  22. chest — of your body
  23. roll — a cake
  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