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

Word bank: swing · arm · tear · file · march · craft

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. 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 — part of the body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — boats
  5. march — music
  6. file — a document
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a line of people
  9. craft — a skill
  10. file — a tool
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. tear — from crying
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. swing — in golf
  15. tear — from crying
  16. swing — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. 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