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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: trunk · spring · chest · present · wind · sharp · last · arm

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chest — of your body
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. chest — a box
  6. sharp — clever
  7. present — a gift
  8. wind — moving air
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spring — the season
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spring — of water
  18. chest — of your body
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. spring — a coil
  22. last — final
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. arm — a part of something

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