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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — in biology
  9. file — a tool
  10. clip — to cut
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. season — in sport
  15. rash — a series
  16. scale — size or range
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. season — of the year
  19. file — a line of people
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. file — a document
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — in music
  24. trunk — of a car

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