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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: lean · chest · pitch · capital · net · wake · perch · arm

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chest — of your body
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. chest — a box
  9. net — for catching
  10. capital — money
  11. net — after costs
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lean — thin
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. capital — a city
  19. wake — a trail
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. net — in sport
  24. chest — of your body

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