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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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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 · march · chip · race · mouse · trunk · arm · bat

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chip — for betting
  3. march — the month
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. chip — to eat
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. race — the arms race
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. race — humankind
  15. march — music
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. race — a contest
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. march — the month
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. bat — for baseball

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