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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: wake · arm · cell · bark · clip · race · craft · perch

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cell — in biology
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wake — a trail
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. clip — for paper
  8. craft — boats
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. craft — a skill
  15. perch — the fish
  16. clip — to cut
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. race — a contest
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — to shout
  24. race — humankind

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