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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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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: band · last · stem · pitcher · tear · arm · trunk · file

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. file — a tool
  4. last — to go on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. file — a document
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. last — final
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tear — to rip
  15. last — finally
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a ring
  21. file — a line of people
  22. stem — to come from
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a car

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