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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: arm · object · perch · lie · chest · wind · prune · field

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wind — moving air
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — for sport
  9. object — an aim
  10. lie — to recline
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. object — to protest
  13. chest — of your body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. field — farmland
  16. object — a thing
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — of your body
  19. field — a subject
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chest — a box

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