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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: fall · roll · straw · arm · rest · cell · degree · saw

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. degree — from a university
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rest — what's left
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fall — the season
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cell — in biology
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. fall — to drop
  21. saw — the tool
  22. degree — temperature
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — a list

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