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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: wind · trunk · arm · content · sharp · perch · swing · hand

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. swing — music
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. hand — in cards
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. sharp — clever
  9. content — happy
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. swing — to play on
  13. perch — the fish
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. hand — help
  17. content — the amount
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — in golf
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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