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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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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: club · chair · bat · straw · cell · kick · file · arm

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bat — the animal
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. file — a document
  8. chair — a leader
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. file — a line of people
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cell — in biology
  14. club — a group
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. kick — in football
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. club — for golf
  21. cell — a phone
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. file — a tool
  24. bat — in an idiom

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