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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: ruler · rash · bat · land · trunk · hand · snap · arm

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. land — to come down
  3. snap — to click
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. bat — the animal
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. hand — in cards
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. hand — help
  24. rash — a series

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