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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: game · present · arm · sharp · march · wax · swing · trunk

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. game — wild animals
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. game — a match
  6. swing — to play on
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. present — a gift
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — to grow
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. present — there
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. march — music
  19. swing — music
  20. march — the month
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. swing — in golf
  24. present — the time now

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