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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mate — a partner
  8. spell — letters
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. scale — size or range
  11. march — the month
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mate — to breed
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wound — an injury
  19. scale — in music
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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