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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: cell · patient · bark · chest · perch · bound · swing · lash

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bark — to shout
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bound — certain
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. swing — music
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. chest — a box
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bark — of a tree

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