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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 · arm · shower · mark · key · saw · drill · tear

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. key — in music
  3. drill — the tool
  4. key — for a lock
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. key — the most important part
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. mark — a trace
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. mark — a grade
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. drill — army training
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. tear — to rip
  20. shower — to wash
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. shower — rain
  24. saw — the tool

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