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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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Word bank
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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: hide · bat · arm · wax · trunk · bark · sharp · rock

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bark — to shout
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rock — music
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. rock — a stone
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bat — the animal

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