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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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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: perch · file · sharp · arm · pound · court · stock · pitcher

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. court — of a king
  6. file — a tool
  7. stock — goods
  8. file — a document
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. sharp — clever
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stock — shares
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — a weight
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. perch — the fish
  20. court — for sport
  21. file — a line of people
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. court — of law
  24. arm — a part of something

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