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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: pound · bat · bowl · file · perch · race · arm · craft

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. bat — the animal
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. file — a document
  6. craft — boats
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. perch — the fish
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. file — a tool
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — humankind
  22. file — a line of people
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. race — the arms race

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