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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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. lash — to lash out
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. hand — help
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. shower — rain
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. hand — in cards
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — the underground
  20. field — farmland
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. tube — a container
  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