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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. mug — a cup
  4. clip — a video
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. shower — to wash
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mug — to rob
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. mug — a face
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tear — from crying
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. arm — part of the body

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