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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: arm · shower · wound · chair · swing · straw · tear · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pit — in a race
  3. shower — rain
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chair — a leader
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. tear — to rip
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. swing — to play on
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — to wash
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. swing — music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. arm — a part of something

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