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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 120 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: cabinet · arm · degree · tear · ball · band · wound · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. degree — temperature
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. ball — a great time
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. band — a music group
  18. ball — a dance
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. arm — part of the body

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