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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 · kid · bowl · wake · mark · file · straw · nail

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. file — a line of people
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. file — a document
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. file — a tool
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. kid — child
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — a trail
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. mark — a trace
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mark — a grade
  24. nail — for a hammer

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