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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: arm · trunk · branch · mark · ground · shower · spring · sharp

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. branch — a division
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. sharp — clever
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mark — a grade
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. spring — a coil
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mark — a trace
  16. ground — crushed
  17. shower — to wash
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. spring — of water
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. shower — rain
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. spring — the season
  24. branch — of a tree

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