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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 120 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: pitcher · swing · game · sharp · perch · arm · court · prune

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. game — a match
  3. prune — to trim
  4. swing — in golf
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. court — for sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. swing — to play on
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. court — of a king
  19. swing — music
  20. perch — the fish
  21. court — of law
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. sharp — exactly

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