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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: chest · bear · perch · lash · mark · present · cold · arm

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — a gift
  3. cold — not warm
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mark — a grade
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chest — of your body
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. present — there
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. chest — a box
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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