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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: spell · bulb · arm · straw · cue · pit · clip · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. spell — letters
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. spell — magic
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bulb — for light
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pit — a hole
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cue — a signal
  19. pit — in a race
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your 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