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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: land · perch · bound · cell · arm · bat · field · chair

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. field — farmland
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — for sport
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. land — to come down
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bound — certain
  16. perch — the fish
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — a country
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — obliged
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. land — ground

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