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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: present · pop · date · straw · hand · arm · last · chest

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. last — to go on
  4. chest — a box
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. date — the fruit
  8. last — final
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. present — a gift
  11. pop — music
  12. pop — soda
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. present — the time now
  18. last — finally
  19. pop — to visit
  20. chest — of your body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. present — there

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