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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: trunk · pitcher · hand · net · perch · arm · chip · branch

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chip — for betting
  5. net — after costs
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — in sport
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. net — for catching
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. chip — to eat
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — a division
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pitcher — a jug

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