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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 · saw · wind · cue · spring · kid · sharp · perch

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. spring — a coil
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — a signal
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. spring — of water
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — to tease
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. spring — the season
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. sharp — clever
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cue — for pool
  23. kid — child
  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