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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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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: chip · sharp · tear · wind · trunk · mug · arm · clip

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — to rob
  7. wind — moving air
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. wind — moving air
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. sharp — clever
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. mug — a face
  20. tear — from crying
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. mug — a cup
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. clip — to cut

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