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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 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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. chest — a box
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. band — a ring
  7. file — a tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bound — certain
  11. mate — a partner
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bound — tied together
  15. file — a document
  16. mate — to breed
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. band — a music group
  20. branch — a division
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bound — obliged
  23. file — a line of people
  24. branch — of a tree

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