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

Word bank: cold · trunk · chip · arm · lie · pound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. cold — an illness
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chip — to eat
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pound — a weight
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. lie — to recline
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. lie — an untruth

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