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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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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: straw · mug · charge · bat · land · arm · file · snap

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. mug — to rob
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bat — the animal
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. land — to come down
  10. mug — a cup
  11. mug — a face
  12. charge — a price
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a line of people
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. file — a tool
  20. snap — to click
  21. charge — in control
  22. land — ground
  23. charge — electricity
  24. file — a document

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