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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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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: mate · pit · arm · file · cold · game · straw · stem

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pit — in a race
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pit — a hole
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — wild animals
  17. mate — to breed
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. mate — a friend
  21. file — a tool
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. game — a match
  24. mate — a partner

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