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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 · tear · wave · file · club · sharp · bark · bat

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. wave — with your hand
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. club — for dancing
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. club — for golf
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bark — to shout
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. sharp — clever
  22. club — a group
  23. file — a line of people
  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